Adisti Sukma Sawitri, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Perhaps they know they are fighting a losing battle, but, in a last-ditch attempt to enforce the smoking ban, city administration officials are turning to civilians for help.
They plan to include civilians in a task force assigned to catch errant smokers off guard.
If the plan is approved by the City Council, the administration will begin deploying the teams, consisting of activists and civilians, next year.
""The problem with the smoking ban is we don't have the personnel to enforce it. There is also a poor public perception of the regulation. That is why the role of civilians is important,"" the governor's assistant for public welfare, Rohana Manggala, said Tuesday.
The administration, she said, was also planning to reward citizens who turned in smokers or building owners who had not designated a room for smokers.
The administration enacted last year a bylaw on air pollution. It bans smoking in a range of public places and requires public transportation vehicles to run on compressed natural gas.
Building owners will have their business permits revoked if they fail to set aside a room for smoking after receiving three warning letters.
The much-awaited bylaw was considered a major step toward improving the quality of living in the city.
The administration introduced tough measures, putting hundreds of people caught smoking in restricted areas on trial and raiding buildings.
However, it soon found the cost of the trials -- between Rp 30 to 50 million -- something of an impediment.
Recently, it issued warning letters to the owners of North Jakarta's Kelapa Gading Sports Mall and Tanjung Priok bus terminal -- for not having rooms for smokers.
Although many buildings along the city's main thoroughfares clearly display no-smoking signs, smokers can still be seen freely puffing away inside the premises. Inside the House of Representatives building on Jl. Gatot Subroto in Central Jakarta, for instance, lawmakers continue to smoke during hearings and meetings.
Jakarta Public Order Agency head Harianto Badjuri told The Jakarta Post that Jakartans should not rely too much on the administration to enforce the smoking ban but should instead monitor their own surroundings.
However, he said that rewarding ""concerned citizens"" was not necessary either because the smoking ban was law.
""The bylaw is actually about morality. All of the administration's efforts will be meaningless if the people don't support it.""
Harianto said the agency had done well so far but it would be better to work closely with Jakartans.
