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Changed face of Kramat Tunggak gives residents peace and quiet
Built between 2001 and 2003, the Jakarta Islamic Center (JIC) occupies 10
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Built between 2001 and 2003, the Jakarta Islamic Center (JIC) occupies 10.9 hectares of land which used to be the red-light district of Kramat Tunggak, North Jakarta.
The district was founded in 1972 by former governor Ali Sadikin, who hoped its isolated location would discourage people from visiting. However, it continued to grow because of its proximity with Tanjung Priok port which provided access to the district.
In its early years there were 300 prostitutes and 76 pimps working there. By the end of its time in 1999, there were 1,615 prostitutes and 258 pimps, who lived in 277 buildings with 3,546 rooms.
In 1998, former governor Sutiyoso ordered the district shut down. It was officially closed in 1999 and the city administration took over the land.
Before the closure, the Jakarta Social Agency recorded out of a total of 640 sex workers who received job training, 80.6 percent returned to their hometowns, 7.9 percent got married, 1.4 percent became entrepreneurs, 0.46 percent got jobs in the private sector and 9.38 percent were not monitored and were thought to have continued as sex workers elsewhere.
Paimun Karim, the JIC's information and communication manager, said the center now employed some of the former thugs in the neighborhood as security guards and one of the former prostitutes as a cleaning woman.
Chosyatun, the wife of the neighborhood unit's head, has lived across from the district since 1973.
"We used to have lots of crime. It was a bit safer when the government built a two meter brick fence in the 1980s. But now it's peaceful," said the mother of 11.
She said in the past, she never let her children play outdoors and had them study at home for fear of "bad" influence.
Ansori, a resident of Plumpang Semper, said he often came to the JIC because the area had become clean and safe enough for him to walk and exercise in.
A Padang restaurant owner said he preferred the Kramat Tunggak red-light district in its heyday.
"Before, I could make between Rp 1 million and Rp 3 million a day. Now it's difficult to get just Rp 500,000," said the former sailor who has lived in the area since 1990. - Tifa Asrianti
