Govt drafting decree on liquor sales

JAKARTA (JP): Local alcoholics will find it almost impossible to find drinks at roadside stalls as soon as the new home affairs ministry decree on alcohol comes into force.

Alcoholic beverages will be available only in places authorized by the government and their sale will be strictly controlled, ministry spokesman HSA Yusacc said yesterday.

"You can currently see alcoholic drinks on sale in small kiosks and roadside foodstalls all over the place," he was quoted by Antara as saying. "When the decree comes into effect," they will be cleared from the shelves."

The decree will be the guidelines for the Presidential Decree on the Control of Alcohol issued last month. No firm date has been given for its implementation.

The government has come under heavy pressure from hardline Moslem groups who want alcohol totally banned on the grounds that it is haram, or banned by Islamic teaching.

They argue that liquor is responsible for the rising crime rate and loose morality of many people in the predominantly Moslem Indonesia.

The presidential decree, consisting of six chapters and ten articles, regulates in general terms production, quality standards, distribution, sales and tax on alcoholic beverages.

It states that they may be made in Indonesia only with a permit from the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

The alcohol level of drinks is divided into three categories; A includes drinks with a content of up to 5 percent, B from 5 percent to 20 percent and C from 20 percent to 55 percent.

The Presidential Decree puts the production, distribution and sale of drinks in categories B and C under close supervision.

Chapter four of the Presidential Decree states that alcoholic drinks may be sold only in licensed places, such as hotels, bars, restaurants and other places appointed by the local regent, mayor or governor.

It says "other places" that the local government licenses to sell alcohol should be located "far enough" from places of worship, schools and hospitals, thereby ruling out the vast majority of roadside foodstalls.

Yusacc said regencies with their own regulations on liquor would have to adjust the rules to comply with the ministerial decree.

The 15 provinces with their own regulations are North Sumatra, Jambi, Bengkulu, West Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, Bali, West Nusa Tenggara, East Nusa Tenggara, East Timor, South Sulawesi, Central Sulawesi, North Sulawesi, Maluku, Irian Jaya, and Jakarta.

Jakarta has yet to have its regulation approved by the home affairs minister due to strong objections from the local Moslem community. (pan)