Stop sex trade in rehab program

JAKARTA (JP): City councilors urged the administration yesterday to forbid Kramat Tunggak sex workers from receiving clients while taking short courses provided by the city to prepare them for new professions after the forced closure of their brothels.

Councilors Soeparmo and Achmad Suaidy said the women would have to focus their attention on the three-month courses, which would begin in October, so they could learn new skills before entering the workforce in new professions.

Soeparmo, chairman of Commission E for social welfare, worried that if the prostitutes were still allowed to receive clients, the public, which had demanded the closure of the brothels, would lose patience with the administration.

"What would the local community say if the prostitutes, who had just listened to a religious lecture in the morning, entertained guests in the evening?" he asked.

Suaidy, chairman of the United Development Party faction, added: "If they can still practice their trade while attending classes, they won't be able to fully concentrate on their studies."

As many as 1,600 sex workers at the 27-year-old red-light district will be required to take several three-month courses on various skills, such as cooking, sewing, hair cutting and how to become shop attendants.

The courses are part of a rehabilitation program that will be held through December next year. The women will be divided in five groups of 320 members each.

The administration plans to close down the area's brothels by the end of 1999, following protests by local residents who are strongly against their existence.

The 10.5-hectare area will be developed into a business district by a joint-venture between the city and private developer PT Nuansa Jasa Realtindo. The developers plan to build shopping complexes, hotels, shop houses and other supporting facilities.

Following the closure of the brothels, the sex workers will be removed to a new rehabilitation center to be established on a 2.5-hectare plot of land in Sarang Bango village, Marunda, in North Jakarta. (ivy)