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Jakarta entertainment businesses feel the squeeze of raids, high taxes: Association
The revocation of a business permit for entertainment venues may be conducted directly without the issuance of warning letters.
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The Djakarta Warehouse Project (DWP) electronic music festival held in JIExpo in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta on Dec. 13-15, 2019. (JP/Wendra Ajistyatama)
T
he Jakarta administration’s decision to close down several night clubs and pull the plug on an annual electronic dance music festival has raised concerns over the fate of entertainment businesses in the capital, which have been consistent in bringing in substantial revenue to the city through taxes.
Jakarta Association of Entertainment Entrepreneurs (Asphija) chief Hana Suryani said the industry had long been stigmatized as a so-called haven for illegal activities and the city administration itself seemed reluctant to engage with businesses directly.
“If the entertainment industry is negatively stigmatized, then when would [the administration] embrace and nurture us?” Hana told The Jakarta Post on Thursday
She pointed to the recent closures as proof that the city administration was actively fostering the stigma while imposing high taxes on the industry. She further argued that any illegal activities found during raids came from a small pocket of the industry, representing less than 10 percent of entertainment businesses. In many cases, she added, the management was not directly involved in the crimes.
“That affects [our sense of] legal certainty. We are worried that these [raids] can happen to us, too,” Hana said.
She assured that Asphija had been cooperating with the administration on its regulations for entertainment businesses, such as the 2018 Gubernatorial Regulation that stipulates businesses must monitor and report illegal activities in their venues and follow the permitted opening hours and days set by the administration.
However, the same regulation also makes it easier for the administration to shut down entertainment spots based on field monitoring and mass media and public reports.
