Sex workers still on Batam streets

Sex workers still on Batam streets

BATAM, Riau: A day prior to the beginning of the Ramadhan fasting month, sex workers were still visible in the streets of Batam Island freely going from one hotel to another.

According to Antara's monitoring, sex workers were also seen at star-rated hotels and shopping centers in Nagoya. Many others were serving their Singaporean guests in several tourist resorts in Nongsa and Batu Ampar.

Some 5,000 young women from cities in Sumatra, North Sulawesi and West Java are working as sex workers on the island. 65 of them have contracted AIDS and hundreds of others are believed to have been infected by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

Nyat Kadir, deputy chairman of the Batam provincial legislative council, said local authorities would be faced with the decision of whether to enforce the closure of thousands of night spots and entertainment centers on the island during the fasting month because of the large number of sex workers.

"Local authorities will be facing a dilemma because it will unlikely expel the sex workers and workers employed in hotels, restaurants, massage parlors, nightclubs and entertainment centers," he said. --Antara