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Govt urged to revoke tobacco production roadmap
Hazardous product: Female workers roll cigarettes in a factory
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Hazardous product: Female workers roll cigarettes in a factory. The Industry Ministry is aiming to boost Indonesiaâs cigarette production to 524.2 billion pieces in 2020, amending a previous roadmap that aimed to only increase total production to 260 billion cigarettes from 2015 to 2020. (Antara) (Antara)
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span class="caption">Hazardous product: Female workers roll cigarettes in a factory. The Industry Ministry is aiming to boost Indonesia's cigarette production to 524.2 billion pieces in 2020, amending a previous roadmap that aimed to only increase total production to 260 billion cigarettes from 2015 to 2020. (Antara)
Anti-tobacco activists joining with the Coalition against the Falsehood of the Cigarette Industry are calling on Industry Minister Saleh Husin to revoke a tobacco production roadmap, saying that it will increase the consumption of cigarettes in Indonesia.
The Coalition says the roadmap will benefit cigarette companies while, at the same time, it will leave Indonesian people at greater risk for diseases.
Hery Chariansyah, the director of the anti-tobacco group Raya Indonesia, said that the coalition conveyed its appeal to Saleh in a second letter sent to him this week after the minister left their first letter unanswered.
'He has not yet responded to our [first] letter until now. This shows that he doesn't have the good faith to protect our people from the danger of cigarettes,' he said in a discussion in Jakarta on Thursday.
In its first letter dated Jan. 4, the coalition proposed a meeting with Saleh and requested the minister revoke the tobacco roadmap. The coalition also asked the minister to respond to the letter no later than 14 days after receipt.
Hery said as Indonesia was not a capitalist country, the government should make its best effort to increase the welfare of all Indonesian people, not only that of tobacco companies.
'Saleh deserves to be reshuffled by the President [Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo] because he did not consider the public's health when he decided on the roadmap,' he said.
In the roadmap, the Industry Ministry is aiming to increase production to 524.2 billion cigarettes in 2020. It amends the previous roadmap, which only aimed for a total production of 260 billion cigarettes from 2015 to 2020.
Tobacco Control Support Center chairman Kartono Muhamad criticised the Health Ministry for being ignorant about the presence of the tobacco roadmap.
He said Health Minister Nila Moeloek, who previously wanted to decrease the number of Indonesian smokers, had only kept silent when the tobacco roadmap was issued by the Industry Ministry.
'Those two ministers should coordinate with each other when they decide on a regulation. Without coordination, any regulations issued will overlap,' said Kartono.
The Coalition said it would convey a third warning letter to Saleh if the minister did not respond its second letter within 14 days.
'If delivering warning letters doesn't work, we will continue our fight against the roadmap by filing a legal suit against the government,' said Hery. (ebf)(+)
