Violating night spots to be shut down

JAKARTA (JP): The public order office will continue taking firm action against establishments that violate city regulations.

Kusaeni Budiantoro, who heads the office, said yesterday that his office will not act based on the common procedure, which requires the office to issue three warnings before closing down an establishment.

"We cannot tolerate them any longer. I have told the owners that I am serious about this thing, and my office will no longer play by the rules," Kusaeni said.

He added that last week, three discotheques -- Scorpion on Jl. Wahid Hasyim, Central Jakarta, HZ in Lokasari shopping complex, West Jakarta and Cleopatra in Sunter, North Jakarta -- were closed down for violating operation hours.

He also said his office plans to close down three other establishments -- Zona, Hot Pen and Hailai -- as soon as a police investigation is completed.

"We will close down the establishments if the investigation shows the management was involved in the cases," he said.

Zona is under investigation after police discovered several Ecstasy pills during a recent raid. Hot Pen discotheque is under investigation for being used as a brothel. Police confiscated a gun as well as Ecstasy pills from guests at the Hailai restaurant.

When asked why many establishments seemed to ignore the warnings and continued violating the regulation, Kusaeni said it appeared that the managements took the threat lightly.

"Maybe they don't believe that I will actually do it because in the past, a threat was probably just a bluff," he said.

Kusaeni cited action taken against the owner of the Ganesha discotheque as an example. His office had no other choice but to revoke its permit.

The office revoked the operation permit of the Ganesha discotheque and confiscated its electrical equipment. The owner was prohibited from reopening such a business in Jakarta.

"We are tired of such businessmen. We had given them chances to avoid such punishment, but they just did not understand," he said.

There are a total of 3,174 establishments in Jakarta, consisting of bars, pubs, billiard centers, discotheques and movie theaters.

The public order office has been increasing its activities in supervising establishments, as many of them are being used for drug trafficking.

In April, the office inspected a total of 2,487 establishments. It closed down 179 and warned 90 others. In May, it inspected a total of 769, closed down 38 and warned 10 others.

There are three offices responsible for the establishments, as owners should obtain at least three permits from the police and the city public order and tourism offices.

Each of the offices is responsible for supervising establishments and takes firm action against those found violating the regulation. Most of the time, the offices are working together in cracking down on such delinquent establishments. (yns)