Nightspots defy warnings

TANGERANG (JP): A number of shop houses here have been operating as entertainment centers despite the mayoralty administration reprimanding the owners for violating their business licenses.

Head of the municipal tourism agency Kusnawan said on Thursday that the shop-house owners only held licenses to run restaurants.

"We have never permitted them to operate nightspots. We have frequently told them to desist from operating their illegal businesses, but none of them have answered our summonses, not to mention complied with our request," Kusnawan complained.

He said he had reported the case to both Mayor Thamrin and the municipal public order agency.

"It's not my job to say why these illegal nightspots are still operating," he said.

The shop-houses involved are situated near the Karawaci toll gate, Pinangsia shopping complex and in Panunggangan subdistrict.

Some of the entertainment centers, which bear names such as Kau dan Aku (You and Me), Tomato, Paradise, King, and Kampung Kafe offer karaoke and live music performances. Their customers are mostly South Koreans.

Reports say that a number of illegal nightspots in the mayoralty provide prostitutes.

Tangerang is home to hundreds of factories, many of them established through foreign investment.

Mayor Thamrin has ordered the municipal public order agency to close down the illegal entertainment centers in Pinangsia.

"These (entertainment) places must be clamped down on because the area is supposed to be for offices and shops," Thamrin said recently.

An operation to close the nightspots failed three months ago, when hundreds of the nightspot employees put up strong opposition. (41)