'It's hard to move a brothel'

JAKARTA (JP): The city administration is still uncertain about where to relocate the sex workers of the notorious red light district Kramat Tunggak in North Jakarta.

The city secretary in charge of social affairs, Soenarjudardji, said yesterday it was not easy to decide the best place to move the 11.5 hectare prostitution complex which houses 1,800 prostitutes.

Plans to move the complex, which was established in the 1970s, have been regularly aired by city officials since the 1980s. And rumors about evicting the sex workers from the complex have become commonplace to them and the brothel operators.

The administration once planned to relocate the complex to the Seribu Island. Rawa Malang in the Cilincing district, also in North Jakarta haw been cited as a possible site.

The complex, the only legalized prostitution complex, is supposed to be a rehabilitation center for sex workers. But brothels operate adjacent to the district's residential areas.

Governor Surjadi Soedirdja once said; "The concept of moving the complex must be clear. It is not that easy. It could merely be moving a disease to another place." (11/sur)