Kramat Tunggak to close by Dec. 31

Kramat Tunggak to close by Dec. 31

JAKARTA (JP): The city's long debate over when to close the
Kramat Tunggak red-light district in North Jakarta came to an end
on Friday when Governor Sutiyoso announced he would shut it down
before New Year's Eve.

"The decision to close (the country's oldest official
prostitution complex) is because its existence is no longer
appropriate with the surrounding environment and the city's
development," the governor stated in Decree No. 6485 dated Sept.
15.

City administration spokesman Kamaludin Santos, who released
the decree to the media on Friday, did not explain why the
announcement was made 18 days after Sutiyoso signed the decree.

The governor stated that the 1,600 prostitutes and 258 brothel
staff residing in the 10.3-hectare complex would be gradually
"rehabilitated" at a center.

He, however, did not disclose the location of the new center.

Plans to relocate the prostitution complex, founded by the
city administration in the early 1970s, had been discussed
intermittently since the 1980s.

Deputy Governor for Social Welfare Affairs Djailani had
earlier said the administration finally decided to close down the
center by the end of 1999, instead of relocating it.

The decision was opposed by nearby residents, who demanded the
center be closed as soon as possible. They argued that the
prostitution site had led to many divorces and some threatened to
burn the complex down.

A study has shown that an average of 3,000 clients visit the
complex daily.

Last month, experts and activists argued against the planned
closure, saying it would only hamper efforts to monitor the
spread of sexually transmitted diseases and drive virtually all
commercial sex transactions onto the streets. (ind)