Prostitutes want trade union

JAKARTA (JP): The government is upset about the planned establishment of a trade union for some 200 prostitutes in the Silir red-light district in Surakarta, Central Java.

"The plan is irritating," said Director General of Tourism Andi Mappi Sammeng on Monday. He pointed out that prostitution has never been part of the country's tourist industry as some people have claimed.

"Indonesia is developing its tourist industry from its natural attractiveness and its cultures, not prostitution," he told reporters.

The press recently reported a plan to establish a local unit of the All-Indonesian Workers Union Federation by the prostitutes working in the Silir district.

Chairman of the union's Central Java chapter Tambah Sudjio had supported the plan, saying that prostitution is part of the country's tourist industry and that, just like workers in other sectors, the prostitutes deserve union protection.

Sudjio has said the Silir red-light district was "established" in 1961 by the provincial administration as a way to confine prostitution within a limited area, and is currently overseen by the local office of the Ministry of Social Services.

"The place is legal, which is all the more reason for the establishment of a union," Sudjio was quoted by Kompas as saying.

"With the union, the rights of the workers will be respected," he said. "The union will arm these tourism workers against abuse by their employers, and will improve their welfare and sense of security."

Andi strongly opposed the call, especially if the unit is to be established in the name of tourism. "Give me any verification for the claims that the government develops tourism by promoting prostitution," he said.

It is public knowledge, however, that many tourist resorts and facilities such as hotels, karaoke lounges, discotheques, bars and massage parlors in many cities in Indonesia offer sex-related entertainment to domestic and foreign visitors. (icn)