Martapura enforces ban on eating in public places

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

It's Rp 15,000 ($1.50) for eating in public places during the day time, and between Rp 50,000 to Rp 60,000 for selling food and drinks.

Those were the fines imposed by Martapura District Court, in Martapura, the capital of Banjar regency in South Kalimantan, on people who violated a bylaw on eating and drinking in public places during Ramadhan, Antara reported on Monday.

Syahda Mariadi, spokesman for the regency office, said dozens of people were nabbed last week by the regency police deployed to enforce the bylaw. They were caught in Taman Cahaya Bumi Selamat park and in Batuah market, he said.

So far, Banjar is the only regency in South Kalimantan that has such a bylaw. Judging by last week's court rulings, it is enforcing the law by deploying the police.

Predominantly Hindu Bali also deploys religious officers to ensure compliance with Nyepi the annual Hindu Day of Silence, a major holiday for Hindus during which they cannot leave the house and cannot even light a fire or turn the power on.

In Martapura, it made no difference whether you were only smoking, or eating, drinking and smoking.

Two residents of Danau Salak village were fined Rp 15,000 each for eating, drinking and smoking, and two others from Sungkai were fined the same simply for smoking. The court fined two Sungkai villagers Rp 60,000 and Rp 50,000 for opening their food stalls.

The judge showed leniency because the bylaw stipulates that the maximum sentence for people who are caught smoking and drinking in public places is Rp 50,000 or seven days in prison, while the maximum sentence for those who sell food and drinks is Rp 2.5 million or three months imprisonment.

The Banjar Regency only began enforcing the bylaw last week. In the first week of Ramadhan, they used persuasion to warn people about the consequences of eating and drinking in public places during the fasting period.