Hotels exempt from nightspot ban

JAKARTA (JP): The ban against nightspots in connection with the Idul Adha Islamic Day of Sacrifice next week will be applied selectively, an official said on Tuesday.

Spokesman for the city administration Muhayat said the ban would be effective from Sunday at 5 p.m. to Tuesday 6 at 10 a.m. on all entertainment centers across the capital, except those located inside hotels.

Entertainment centers which belong to a hotel are considered as facilities the hotel offers to its customers, and thus are exempted from the mandatory suspension, according to Muhayat.

According to the draft notification letter from the City Tourism Agency proposed to the governor on Tuesday, the nightspots specified in the letter comprise massage parlors, saunas, discotheques, night clubs, karaoke bars, pubs and coffee shops, pinball game and billiard centres.

Muhayat said entertainment centers belonging to hotels could operate as usual, except for discotheques and pinball machines.

The draft letter also stipulates the need for sanctions to be imposed on those who violate the regulation. It did not however specify the proposed sanctions.

Head of the agency, Parlindungan Hutabarat, said earlier that a gubernatorial decree would be issued later this week.

He called on the nightspot operators to remain calm, saying the city authorities would guarantee their safety as well as law and public order.

Muslims perform the Idul Adha prayers in open fields and mosques and slaughter goats and cattle on the holiday. They distribute the meat to the needy. (07)