Representatives of Jakarta’s entertainment business declared that the city’s enactment to prohibit smoking inside buildings would affect revenues and jeopardize thousands of jobs. “Our business has been assuring numerous jobs in the city. We also assure the biggest share of taxes to the provincial administration, but prohibiting smoking indoors will significantly affect our business,” stated Adrian Melite, spokesman of the Association of Indonesian Entertainment and Recreation Center Entrepreneurs (PPRHU).

His observations came during what was to be a debate between smoking lobbyists and the city government on the benefits of the 2010 enactment prohibiting smoking in all public venues and buildings, but the city representatives failed to arrive. Adrian stated that the industry had been contented with the gubernatorial enactment implemented in 2005 than only prohibited smoking in certain public places, including apartments, hospitals and schools, and introduced limits on the activity to specially created rooms in other buildings. He also underlined that people came to entertainment places as for instance nightclubs, cafes and bars because they wanted to relax, listen to music and smoke.

“It would be absurd serving them with drinks at the bar, and then demanding them to leave the bar if they wanted to light up,” he declared. Adrian declared that the entertainment business in Jakarta employed nearly 670,000 people and produced annual profits of more than Rp 1.8 trillion ($200 million). Smoking, he stated was a part of the attraction. He also stated that the industry assured thousands of well-paying jobs for people having little or no education. “60% of people we hired at our business are high school graduates, or very often some of them even didn’t go to school,” he said.

Taufiq Arrohman, a Jakarta city councilor who came at the discussion to support smokers, stated that Governor Fauzi Bowo’s decision to implement the enactment banning smoking inside public venues and buildings was unreasonable. “As a governor, he must take care of many important issues, like floods, education or poverty,” he stated.

The National Commission for Child Protection (Komnas Anak) is demanding for a complete ban on tobacco products advertisement and sponsorship, declaring that it was necessary to stop the diffusion of the habit among the country’s teenagers.

Commission chairman Aris Merdeka Sirati declared that a 2009 health law clearly demonstrated the hazards of tobacco products. “In one of the articles it is written that tobacco is a very addictive substance the same as narcotics and alcohol. The question is how narcotics and alcohol can’t be advertised, while the ban on tobacco products advertisement is only done in a slipshod manner and not completely prohibited,” Aris stated.