W

ahyu lit a cigarette while riding on a minibus headed to Manggarai, South Jakarta. Apparently no one minded, despite the city’s ban on smoking in public.

Enacted in 2005 and renewed in 2010, the Jakarta gubernatorial regulation on smoking restrictions in buildings and public facilities has yet to be enforced uniformly. Many people, businesses and offices have been indifferent, if not ignorant, about implementing the rule.

Wahyu is one of the city’s indifferent smokers. The 34-year-old said that he often smoked on public transportation, even though he knew that it was illegal.

“I often do this,” he said on Tuesday. “I put out my cigarette only if other passengers make an objection.”

The regulation stipulates that all administrative institutions, officials and owners of public facilities are obliged to routinely monitor and report on the ban’s enforcement. Violators can be sentenced to jail for six months or to pay a fine of Rp 50 million (US$5,190).

Additional sanctions for those violating the regulation include written warnings, mandatory closures and the revocation of city permits.

However, the bylaw allows building owners to create designated smoking areas.

Jakarta Deputy Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama has said that the administration would propose harsher penalties for scofflaw smokers and building managers to strengthen the regulation.

One of the new measures would be aimed at civil servants who light up anywhere on the premises of city offices, according to Ahok.

The deputy governor said that a new regulation was needed, as the existing regulation was not strong enough, although some places have enforced it.

Ahok is not alone. A. Rasyid, the division head for public services at the Petamburan district office in West Jakarta, said that his office had complied with the regulation since its endorsement in 2005.

Most of his officials did not smoke, Rasyid said. “But if we do find people smoking on the premises of the office, we will scold them. We avoid using harsh language with people, so that they will not feel uncomfortable themselves.”

The district office has also complied to the regulation creating a designated smoking area and posting signage advising people that smoking was forbidden, Rasyid said.

The subdistricts offices administered by Rasyid in Petamburan district area were also told to do the same.

However, Rasyid said that his officials had not yet called the police to arrest any smokers. “We don’t comply to the punishment stated in the bylaw, because, so far, simply scolding them is enough.”

Separately, an official with the South Jakarta municipality office said that his office only recently enforced stricter warnings for smoking within the compound.

The source, who declined to be named because of protocol, said that most offices under the municipal administration had paid closer attention in implementing the bylaw.

Meanwhile, others in the city doubt that the ban will ever be enforced effectively, even if it is strengthened.

Marcelino, 29, who is an active smoker, said that the city administration could never implement the law comprehensively.

“It’s because everyone smokes, everywhere,” he said.

“It’s a habit that will be difficult to control by the administration, but the success of the implementation of the bylaw is in the hands of the administration,” he added. (fzm)