Partygoers in Jakarta may have to go home early as the Jakarta City Council is planning to approve a bylaw on tourism next week, which regulates that nightclubs may only operate until midnight.

City Council regional legislation board (Balegda) chairman Mohamad Taufik of the Gerindra Party said that councilors had suggested the new curfew due to concerns over illegal drug activity taking place in nightclubs. Taufik said that councilors had considered two options; to limit the operational hours of nightclubs until 12 a.m. or to completely ban nightclubs from operating.

'€œWe [the councilors] have decided to take the first option. Nightclubs may only operate until midnight. We know that there are many nightclubs that host illegal drug activities. If we further limit operational hours of nightclubs, drug users will have nowhere to go,'€ Taufik told reporters at City Hall on Friday.

Currently, nightclubs may operate from 7 p.m. until 2 a.m. as stipulated by Gubernatorial Regulation No. 21/2007 on nightclubs.

Taufik claimed that the new curfew had been included in the draft bylaw, and had received approval from related agencies as well as venue owners.

'€œThis is important in order to stop the circulation of drugs in Jakarta,'€ he said.

Jakarta Tourism and Culture Agency head Purba Hutapea said that although he respected the suggestion, he asked councilors to reconsider the bylaw draft before approval, saying that it was not the answer for drug problems in Jakarta.

'€œLimiting the operational hours of nightclubs does not solve the problem. People can still do drugs elsewhere,'€ Purba told The Jakarta Post over the phone on Friday.

He pointed out that the agency at the behest of Governor Basuki '€œAhok'€ Tjahaja Purnama had recently sent letters to all nightclub owners informing them that after one warning, the city administration would immediately shut down clubs which had been proven to allow drug use or dealing on their premises, and would refuse subsequent nightclub permit applications from any company that had owned a club that had been shut down.

Purba said that the city administration'€™s commitment to stop drug use in nightclubs was already evident when last year Ahok closed Jakarta'€™s iconic Stadium nightclub, located in West Jakarta, which was infamous for housing illegal drug activities.

'€œInstead of implementing a new curfew, we can increase cooperation with the BNN [National Narcotics Agency] and the Jakarta Police to eradicate drugs. We completely respect the City Council'€™s opinion, but this does not solve the problem,'€ he said.

Separately, the Association of Indonesian Entertainment Center Owners (Aspehindo) chairman Adrian Maulite said that the association would request a meeting with councilors at Balegda to talk about the matter.

'€œIt would not make sense if this regulation is approved. We will set a meeting with the councilors to negotiate,'€ Adrian said over the phone on Friday.

Adrian added that the planned curfew would negatively affect the business of nightclubs, which would result in lower tax revenue for the city administration.

'€œRegarding drug problems, the police, the BNN and the city administration should close all nightclubs which had been proven to allow [illegal] drug activities instead of imposing a new curfew,'€ he said.

-------------------

To receive comprehensive and earlier access to The Jakarta Post print edition,  please subscribe to our epaper through iOS' iTunes, Android's Google Play, Blackberry World or Microsoft's Windows Store. Subscription includes free daily editions of The Nation, The Star Malaysia, the Philippine Daily Inquirer and Asia News.

For print subscription, please contact our call center at (+6221) 5360014 or subscription@thejakartapost.com

Popular

RI, Australia strengthen partnership on taxing crypto assets

Analysis: Indonesia denies normalization with Israel to enter OECD

Citroen to produce electric cars in Indonesia