Governor told to stop rampant gambling or quit
Governor told to stop rampant gambling or quit
JAKARTA (JP): Four party factions at the City Council urged
Governor Sutiyoso on Monday to immediately stop the proliferation
of toto gelap (togel) gambling in the city and halt rampant drug
abuse -- or give up his job.
"If the governor cannot handle the gambling and drug
trafficking in the city, he should resign," councilor Posman
Siahaan of the Justice and Unity Party (PKP) said.
Seconding the statement were Tb. Abas Soleh Makmun from the
National Awakening Party (PKB), M. Banang from the United Party
and Josef Kabullah from the Unity in Diversity Party (PBI).
Posman expressed concern at the mushrooming of the gambling,
which he said mostly attracted low-income residents.
"Some children are even taking part in togel gambling."
He also urged newspapers to stop running advertisements
announcing the results of the gambling and said the council would
soon send formal requests to the publications.
Dozens of gambling operators publicize results of the
gambling, which is based on four numbers, in the Sinar Pagi daily
almost every day.
Gambling is illegal but togel, popularly known as judi
buntut, has become hugely popular this year and attracted
millions of Jakartans struggling to make ends meet amid the
economic crisis.
Gamblers choose two or four numbers, and the winning numbers
are announced every two days to three days by operators.
Posman also urged Sutiyoso to close several buildings
belonging to the city administration which were believed to have
been used as gambling dens.
But he said the city administration should legalize gambling
to provide another source of revenue if it was ineffectual in
stopping the activity.
"It's better to localize the gambling. We could derive taxes
from the gambling dens," the councilor proposed.
Abas of the Muslim-based PKB said that his party could accept
the localization of gambling if the city administration was
impotent in halting the activity.
The four councilors also urged Sutiyoso to punish city public
order officials if they were found backing the activities. (jun)