North Jakarta mayor wants Kramat Tunggak closed down
JAKARTA (JP): North Jakarta Mayor Soebagyo has asked the governor to immediately close the city's only officially recognized red-light district, Kramat Tunggak in North Jakarta.
Soebagyo said Thursday that the 11-hectare prostitution complex, currently home to 1,670 prostitutes, had failed in its aim to be a rehabilitation center for people working in the sex trade.
"If it's designed to function as a rehabilitation center, the number of inhabitants should shrink or reduce to zero. But, nothing has changed.
"So why should we maintain its existence?" he asked.
According to Soebagyo, the number of prostitutes living and working in the complex on Jl. Kramat Jaya (formerly known as Jl. Kramat Tunggak) was the same as when it was founded in the early 1970s.
Research has shown that an average of about 3,000 customers visit the complex per day.
The mayor, who submitted his proposal to Governor Sutiyoso, strongly hoped that Sutiyoso would react positively to his idea.
Soebagyo, however, did not comment on how the city administration would deal with the 1,670 prostitutes and 268 brothel keepers, who would probably lose their jobs if the complex closed.
Head of Commission E for welfare affairs, Soeparmo, hailed the mayor's proposal, saying that the idea was in line with the commission's wishes.
"But the other important thing is that the administration should prevent the prostitutes from operating in other parts of the capital," the councilor said.
Also, he suggested, the ex-Kramat Tunggak workers should have a health check before leaving the complex for the last time.
Shopping center
Sutiyoso and his staff could not be reached for comment last night on Soebagyo's proposal but a reliable source at the city's Social Services Agency said the area would soon be converted into a shopping complex.
"Indeed, there's already someone ready to develop the site but it has to wait until the administration agrees to close the complex," said the official, who refused to be named.
After the closure of the red-light district, he said, the brothel keepers and prostitutes would be temporarily accommodated and trained at a dormitory owned by the agency for 30 days in skills such as sewing.
"We hope they will stop doing that kind of business after receiving some practical training from us during the short course," he added.
Plans to relocate the red-light district have been proposed intermittently since it was first brought up by city officials in the 1980s.
In April this year, Deputy Governor for Welfare Affairs Djailani also stated that the administration would phase out the complex.
He refuted allegations that the administration was still considering relocating the complex to previously proposed areas such as the Thousand Islands and Rawa Malang, both in North Jakarta, because relocating the complex was the same as approving of prostitution. (ind)