Sutiyoso gets tough on gambling, prostitution
JAKARTA (JP): Governor Sutiyoso has instructed all the city's five mayors and public order officers to close down entertainment spots found to have become covers for gambling and prostitution businesses.
"If the permits for running entertainment centers, including pubs, bars and games halls, are misused, they will surely be revoked," Sutiyoso said.
He said that even though the closure of the spots will cause a definite sharp increase in unemployment, this is still not a reason to tolerate gambling and prostitution .
"So many people, depending on income generated from gambling dens or from pimps and prostitutes, will lose their jobs," Sutiyoso said.
"But it's a risk we will take."
Concealed alteration of entertainment centers into gambling dens and brothels has come under severe criticism lately, especially following clashes between security guards of an entertainment spot in Ketapang, West Jakarta, and local residents on Nov. 22.
The clashes, which were believed to have originally been caused by a deep-rooted sentiment that the center was being used as a prostitution den, became a major riot, which led to burning and vandalizing of 22 churches as well as Protestant and Catholic schools. Fourteen people were killed in the riot.
About 100 people from the Moral Action Committee in the Struggle for the Truth (Kampak), staged a demonstration at City Hall on Monday, urging the governor to close down all gambling and prostitution dens before the coming holy month of Ramadhan in the middle of this month.
Rizal Asral, one of the demonstrators, said that if demands were not met, they would hold more demonstrations.
"If the city administration is reluctant to do so, we will deal with the matter by ourselves," Rizal said.
Meanwhile, owners of at least 80 of 200 entertainment spots in Central Jakarta were summoned on Monday evening by Central Jakarta Mayor Andi Subur Abdullah to be briefed about the possibility of the closure of their businesses if their spots were found to be used as gambling and prostitution dens.
Andi said on Sunday that the owners of the spots would also be briefed about their violations, including running their business long after the closing time as stated in the permits.
He said that he was not happy with public order officers and other security personnel who gave entertainment spot-owners leeway by temporarily shutting down the spots for only three days after they were found to have violated the regulations.
"The spots usually open again and conduct gambling and prostitution as usual after the officers have gone away," Andi said.
He added that a remedy to the problem would be to give each of the city's mayors authority to issue permits and conduct inspections of entertainment centers in their respective areas. (ylt/ind)