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urabaya Mayor Tri Rismaharini has declared her intention to permanently close Dolly, the city'€™s largest red-light district, and several other red-light districts in Surabaya by early next year at the latest.

'€œWhen I was in Dolly and people protested my decision, I put up a fight. I want to save the children there,'€ said Rismaharini, popularly known as Risma, recently.

According to Risma, residents should not turn a blind eye to the fate of the children living near the area. To prove her commitment to these children, over the past several months Risma has set aside two hours a week to teach in four elementary schools '€” SDN Putat Jaya I and Putat Jaya V, both located in the Dolly red-light district, and SDN Semeni I and SDN Semeni II, which are located near Surabaya'€™s Moroseneng red-light district.

'€œWe should not ignore the children. We shouldn'€™t be egoistic and think of ourselves. I'€™m sure there is a way out,'€ said Risma.

The plan to close the biggest red-light district in Indonesia, home to 52 legal brothels employing 1,025 sex workers, has been met with staunch protest, especially from those who depend prostitution for their livelihood.

To compensate these workers, the Surabaya municipality will provide skills training and Rp 5 million (US$453) in start-up capital to every occupant of Dolly.

The city plans to turn the area into a commercial district, and to do so it will accelerate infrastructure development, such as building access roads and a flyover near the location.

Risma expressed confidence the closure of Dolly would not kill the local economy. She cited the Dupak Bangunsari red-light district, which was officially closed in December last year. She said that the residents there were now living healthier lives after the closure. Many of the former brothel owners and sex workers have opened new businesses that were doing well.

Signaling its commitment to the plan, the Surabaya administration has already started purchasing buildings used as brothels in Dolly. According to Surabaya Social Affairs Office head Soepomo, his office had earmarked Rp 6.5 billion this year to buy the buildings.

'€œThat'€™s for 2013 only. In 2014, the amount of funds will be increased. We will buy whatever we can, be it a private home or brothel,'€ said Soepomo.

So far, the Surabaya municipality has closed three red-light districts '€” Tambak Asri, Klakah Rejo and Dupak Bangunsari. In December this year, the municipality plans to close the Sememi red-light district and then follow with Jarak and Dolly in 2014.

Meanwhile, the East Java Indonesia Ulema Council (MUI) has expressed its optimism that the city would succeed in closing Dolly in the first quarter of 2014.

According to East Java MUI secretary general M. Yunus, the government'€™s approach must be holistic, humane and integrated.

Regarding integration, he said the government had to pay attention to the sex workers after they had returned to their places of origin, so they would not return to prostitution again. A holistic approach, he said meant the closure should leave any loose ends that would lead to problems in the future. And he added the government had to show humanity in rehabilitating the sex workers and not stigmatizing them.

'€œThese three points must be followed should the closure be successful,'€ said Yunus.