City to raise fines, councillor reveals

JAKARTA (JP): The maximum fine for people violating city bylaws will be increased by 100 times from Rp 50,000 (US$5.2) to Rp 5 million, chief of the City Council's Commission A for Administrative Affairs Binsar Tambunan said on Sunday.

"So be careful since the city administration has submitted the draft. We start to deliberate it this week and will complete it by next month," Binsar of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) said.

He said the maximum jail term would also be doubled from three months to six months.

He said the current maximum fine imposed on people violating city bylaws, which has been effective since 1974, no longer fits the current situation.

"The value of rupiah has sharply depreciated so a fine of Rp 50,000 does not cause people to think before violating the bylaws any longer," he was reported by Antara as saying.

He said the implementation of Law No. 22/1999 on regional autonomy would require replacement of all city regulations which referred to Law No. 5/1974, which was declared defunct due to the presence of the 1999 law.

The draft bylaw proposes heavy punishments in order to improve orderliness in the capital, Binsar said.

"City administration should be the first to prepare for the bylaw. If it is not yet ready, the new ruling will be useless," Binsar asserted.

Binsar said people did not hesitate to violate the current city bylaws on, among others, public order and maintenance of public facilities, due to minor punishment. (jun)