The Surabaya administration sent at least 10 commercial sex workers from Bojonegoro, Sidoarjo and Denpasar home on Friday in a bid to reduce prostitution in the region.
Sutadi, an assistant overseeing the administration division, said the move was intended to curb the chain of commercial sex workers in the municipality.
"Prostitution is very difficult to eradicate. Preventing outside sex workers from operating in Surabaya will eventually help free the city from prostitution in the future," Sutadi told reporters on Friday.
He said that following the Idul Fitri holiday, many commercial sex workers from outside Surabaya usually flocked to the city.
Most were between 24 and 38 years old, he said, and came to Surabaya with the help of either a pimp or a sex worker already working in the city.
"We renew the data of sex workers every year. Once we find a newcomer, we promptly send her back to her place of origin at the expense of the pimp," he said.
Surabaya Mayor Bambang Dwi Hartono said that apart from renewing data and sending home newcomers, his administration would also continue to provide job training and health services in prostitution complexes including in the renowned Dolly and Jarak areas.
"Thanks to the programs the number of commercial sex workers in Surabaya has dropped by more than 50 percent," Bambang said.
He added that providing sex workers with new skills had helped them find work in other sectors.
Data from the municipal administration shows that the number of prostitutes in the five main areas of Dolly, Jarak, Moroseneng, Bangunsari and Kremil had dropped significantly from 7,500 in 2003 to about 3,400 in 2008.
"The number of sex workers operating outside localization complexes is difficult to collate. We are finding the best way to collect the data," Bambang said.
Last year the administration planned to close down Dolly in Putat Jaya, Sawahan district, but the prostitution complex, which has existed since 1967, is currently still in operation.
Yunita, 30, a sex worker at Dolly, said many of the food stall owners operating in the complex had expressed concern about their business prospects, especially with regard to the decreasing number of visitors during the last few years.
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