Municipality told to submit liquor evaluation

Municipality told to submit liquor evaluation

JAKARTA (JP): The City Council has asked the municipality to
hand over its final evaluation of the central government's
regulations regarding the sale and distribution of alcoholic
beverages in the city.

With the results, the councilors would be able to determine
whether or not the city required a new law on the matter, said
Councilor Saud Rachman, the council's deputy leader yesterday.

"We urgently need a new law to control the distribution and
sale of alcoholic beverages in the city," the United Development
Party (PPP) representative said.

"By submitting the results soon, the council can discuss
whether there's a need to change the city's current law on
alcoholic beverages."

The evaluation conducted by the Jakarta administration was
designed to assess how the city would comply with central
government regulations on the supervision and control of
alcoholic beverages.

These consist of a presidential decree and related ministerial
instructions.

The government regulations were issued in February and March
after the Jakarta City Council passed a bill permitting the city
to tax alcohol distributors.

Moslem groups strongly opposed the bill, intended to replace a
1972 provincial decree which was considered weak. They said it
was tantamount to legalizing alcohol, forbidden under Islamic
teaching. Under pressure, the bill was delayed.

The ministerial instructions stated that provincial
administrations are to issue decrees regulating prohibition,
supervision and control of liquor distribution, and regency
administrations or municipalities are to control places where
alcohol can be sold.

Under the new regulations, liquor can only be sold in hotels,
bars and other designated places. It will be banned from places
close to centers of worship, schools and hospitals.

Administrations can even ban the sale and distribution of
alcoholic beverages if the majority of its people in an area are
against it.

Bus terminals

Saud also praised yesterday the efforts of bus terminal
operators to ban the sale of liquor in and around the city's
terminals.

"The policy to ban liquor sales in and around bus terminals
should be closely monitored all the time and the controls should
not only be conducted after a big road crash," he said, referring
to the recent accident on the Cakung-Cikunir toll road in East
Jakarta in which 35 passengers were killed and dozens of others
injured.

Doctors who examined the body of an inter-city bus driver,
believed to be the main suspect in the crash, said the driver had
been under the influence of alcohol.

Mun'im Idris, a forensic doctor, even said that the
examination found 80 milligrams of alcohol in every cubic
centimeter of the driver's blood, enough liquor to affect his
concentration, judgment, self-control and driving skills.

On Thursday, the head of the Lebak Bulus bus terminal, Yusran
Tandjung, and the head of Pulogadung bus terminal, Abdul Hakim,
said that the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages in the
area were prohibited.

"If we found liquor on a bus, the driver would not be allowed
to operate the bus," Yusran was quoted by the Kompas daily as
saying.

"Pulogadung officials will cooperate with the city's land
transportation agency and police officers to prevent the sale of
liquor and illegal drugs in the terminal area," Abdul Hakim said.

He added that he had ordered 146 bus companies in the terminal
to register drivers' names before they left the terminal. "We
sent circulars to bus companies on Sept. 17 explaining the
policy," said Abdul. (ste)