Government-NGOs launch anti-drug campaign
Government-NGOs launch anti-drug campaign
JAKARTA (JP): A consortium of government and non-government
institutions launched on Monday a nationwide five-year campaign
aimed at encouraging young people to eschew drugs.
In its initial year, the antidrug movement will target the
nine cities which are most affected by the drug problem.
The consortium groups the National Police, National Drugs
Coordinating Board (BKNN) and the Global Nusantara Foundation.
Through the campaign, the consortium hopes to encourage the
people's participation in combating drug dealers and curbing the
number of drug users in the country, which has reached an
estimated 3.1 million.
"Similar activities have already been conducted by the
National Police, NGOs and other institutions, but these have yet
to bear fruit in busting drug syndicates and reducing the number
of drug users," the consortium said in its report.
The main activities in the campaign comprise dialog, polling
and visualization. Other activities include health work,
publication, competitions and social work.
The activities will involve youth, students, non-governmental
organizations (NGOs), the government, police, cultural activists,
religious figures, entrepreneurs and community figures.
Private companies PT Martin Putra Sejahtera and PT ABC are
included in the consortium, which underscores the goals of
professionalism and good management in the campaign.
In the first year of the campaign, it will be conducted in
nine provincial capitals. The program will be divided into three
periods of four months each.
In the first period, which will involve the National Police,
the campaign will be held in Jakarta, West Java, Central Java and
East Java.
The campaign will move to South Sulawesi and Southeast
Sulawesi for the second quarter, where it will be jointly
conducted with the Attorney General's Office.
The Ministry of National Education and the Ministry of Health
and Social Welfare will be involved in the third phase in Riau,
North Sumatra, and West Kalimantan.
The Ministry of National Education reported recently that
there were at least 1,875 students from 318 junior and senior
high schools in the capital who had been identified as new drug
users last year.
Out of these 1,875 students, 575 have had to go through a
thorough rehabilitation process with the support of their
parents.
In a recent survey conducted in a total of 1,030 high schools
in Jakarta, 166 drug-related cases involving 1,015 students were
found.
Out of 1,060 junior high schools surveyed in Jakarta, 152 also
reported similar problems affecting 860 pupils.
The real number of teenage drug addicts may be far higher as
many cases go undetected or are hidden to avoid public
embarrassment. (ylt/hdn)