Sex workers, pimps and local residents whose livelihoods have been dependent on the Dolly red-light district in Surabaya, East Java, for decades, have pledged to resist the district'€™s planned closure, which is scheduled to take place on Wednesday.

Social Affairs Minister Salim Segaf Al Jufri and Surabaya Mayor Tri Rismaharini, widely known as Risma, will officially close the red-light district, one of the biggest in Southeast Asia, at the Islamic Center Building.

'€œWe will stand against the closure and are ready to fight,'€ Anik, a pimp, told journalists during a press conference on Tuesday.

Starting from Wednesday at 6 a.m., Anik said, the residents would blockade all roads and alleys to Dolly so officials could not enter the area and force them to shut down their businesses.

The plan is also opposed by residents who live around Dolly and earn a living by running food stalls and shops. Sutohari, a resident, said the closure would '€œkill'€ their businesses.

Risma, the first woman mayor of Surabaya, has pledged to close down all red-light districts in the city since she took office in 2010, saying that the closure would be in line with city bylaw No. 7/ 1999 that bans using a building as a place of prostitution.

The city administration has closed down other red-light districts such as Sememi, Moroseneng and Jarak.

According to Surabaya Social Agency, there are at least 1,187 sex workers, 311 pimps and 400 local residents operating in Dolly. Most of the sex workers are from outside Surabaya.

The Social Affairs Ministry has allocated Rp 8 billion (US$672,692) to compensate the sex workers. They will receive Rp 5 million per person to start a new life.

The Dolly closure has raised concerns among residents in Semarang regency, Central Java, as residents are worried there will be an exodus of sex workers to their region.

'€œThe people are worried that there might be a wave of sex workers as there are some red-light districts operating here,'€ pointed out Riswanto, a Semarang regency councilor.

The red-light districts include Tegal Panas, Kalinyamat, Sukasari or Gembol (Bawen) and Bandungan. Riswanto urged the administration to do something about the red-light district issue as stipulated by a regional bill on public order, which had been passed by the Semarang Legislative Council in May.

'€œThe regulation stipulates that sex workers are not allowed to operate across the regency,'€ he said, adding that all sex workers or pimps might face three months'€™ imprisonment or a Rp 50 million fine should they go against the ruling.

Meanwhile, in Gorontalo, the Gorontalo AIDS Prevention Commission (KPA) is listing all Gorontalo residents who are possibly earning a living in Dolly.

'€œAs of today [Tuesday], we are still in Surabaya to establish if there are Gorontalo residents living in the area or not,'€ Gorontalo KPA secretary Irwansyah told The Jakarta Post over the phone.

Syamsul Huda M. Suhari contributed to the story from Gorontalo.

Popular

Magnitude 6.5 earthquake strikes off Java island: authorities

Philippines to endure extreme heat until mid-May

Indonesia one step from Olympics after beating South Korea