D

espite having been in place for a decade, the city'€™s ban on smoking in public places is still widely ignored by residents, partly because of the absence of deterrents for violators. A recent incident in which a man assaulted a security guard who told him to put out his cigarette at a train station is an indication that most smokers are still reluctant to abide by the law.

Muhammad Iqbal, a security guard with state-owned railway operator PT KAI Commuter Jabodetabek, was the victim in this case. He had to be hospitalized after allegedly being punched by Fajar Arif, a former boxer, when Muhammad told Fajar not to smoke while he was waiting for his train at Pondok Jati station in East Jakarta on Monday.

Fajar'€™s arrogant act is deplorable and displays the glaring lack of commitment on the part of the Jakarta city administration to enforcing Bylaw No. 2/2005 on air pollution control.

The city authorities do in fact possess considerable power to punish disobedient smokers. Under the bylaw, smoking is prohibited in public places, such as restaurants, public transportation, terminals and stations, health facilities, offices, schools, children'€™s play areas and places of worship. The maximum punishment for the violators is six months'€™ imprisonment or fines up to Rp 50 million (US$3,859).

Unfortunately, the smoking ban is not the only toothless regulation. The city'€™s residents are in the habit of throwing garbage onto the street or into rivers, despite this also being illegal. Similarly, street vendors blithely occupy most sidewalks, forcing pedestrians to risk walking in the road alongside speeding motorists.

The city administration needs to learn from the state-owned railway operator, which has managed to consistently enforce the city smoking ban both at stations and on train coaches, so that nearly all public properties managed by PT KAI are smoke-free. Learning from the railway operator'€™s success, consistent enforcement is the only way to force smokers to respect the rights of nonsmokers.

Muhammad Iqbal is not the only victim of arrogant smokers. Millions of people in Jakarta have become victims of poor enforcement of the smoking ban, as they have to inhale secondhand smokes in many areas supposed to be smoke free. Many indoor cafés, restaurants and other entertainment facilities across the city still allow their visitors to smoke '€” even in high-end malls.

The reluctance of city authorities to enforce the regulation has made nonsmokers powerless despite attempts to ensure clean air in public places. Therefore, we sincerely hope that Governor Basuki '€œAhok'€ Tjahaja Purnama pays serious attention to the long-standing negligence of law enforcement and changes the indifferent attitude of the relevant agencies under the city government.

We also hope that law enforcers thoroughly investigate the incident at the railway station.

Without any serious will to consistently enforce the law, a similar incident could occur at any time. Ten years is more than enough to learn how to tell people not to light up.