Residents skeptical about planned brothel closure
Residents skeptical about planned brothel closure
JAKARTA (JP): Residents near the Pejompongan Indah prostitution complex in Central Jakarta are skeptical about the government's plan to shut down activities at the compound once and for all.
"It's happened too often, the complex has grown resistant to closure," Ahmad, a resident of Bendungan Hilir subdistrict told The Jakarta Post over the weekend.
Newspapers reported recently that Central Jakarta's Deputy Mayor Abdul Kahfi has warned operators of 30 brothels employing 250 prostitutes to stop business by tomorrow.
"We will be issuing two more warnings before we resort to sealing up the brothels," Tugiman Supangkat, a city official was quoted as saying after the first warning issued on March 12.
Ahmad, a long time resident of the area, said that the government has sealed the complex many times since prostitution started there in the early 1970s. It reopens every time it is closed down.
Ujang, another resident speculated that the March 12 warning was issued because President Soeharto is scheduled to dedicate a new low-cost apartment building near the complex.
Sources at the Central Jakarta administration said that the plan to close the red-light area dated back to 1985.
Whatever reason for the warning, most residents said they are relieved the administration is planning to eliminate the brothels there.
"The red-light district is not conducive for families to raise children here," another resident said.
She added that the loud music at night and the ceaseless flow of people from all walks of life roaming the area day and night were distressing.
A plan is afoot to build a low-cost apartment building where the brothel complex now stands. If the plan is realized the complex and the buildings in the surrounding area will have to be demolished.
Local residents, however, were doubtful that this plan will materialize in the near future.
"It'll take at least two to three years," Muradji, a neighborhood community leader, told the Post.
The government would have to consider the mixed nature of the quality of the buildings in the area which is occupied by both shanties and concrete structures.
A 10-story building is currently being built near the red- light district and is scheduled to be inaugurated by the President on March 28, a construction supervisor said.
Sources at the Bendungan Hilir subdistrict office said Saturday, that the land on which this apartment is being built was once densely populated. The government banned residents from rebuilding their houses following a big fire in the area in 1994. The residents were compensated for their losses with enough cash to purchase T-21 type units in the apartment complex.
The sources said that priority to the apartments was given to residents whose houses were destroyed in the fire. The sources refused to reveal the prices of the apartments. (14)