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Members of Jakarta’s entertainment industry complained on Wednesday that the city’s decree banning smoking inside buildings would hurt profits and put thousands of jobs at risk.

“Our kind of industry has been providing numerous jobs in the city. We also contribute the biggest share of taxes to the provincial administration, but banning smoking indoors will severely hurt our business,” said Adrian Melite, chairman of the Association of Indonesian Entertainment and Recreation Center Entrepreneurs (PPRHU).

His remarks came during what was to be a discussion between smoking lobbyists and the city government on the merits of the 2010 decree banning smoking in all public buildings, but the city representatives failed to show.

Instead, entertainment industry representatives and smokers’ advocates made their case to a receptive crowd at the Press Council building in Jakarta.

Adrian said the industry had been happy with the gubernatorial decree issued in 2005 that only banned smoking in some public places, including houses of worship, hospitals and schools, and restricted the activity to designated rooms in other buildings.

He added that people came to entertainment venues such as nightclubs, bars and massage parlors because they wanted to enjoy music, alcohol and cigarettes.

“It would be ridiculous serving them drinks at the bar, then asking them to leave if they wanted to smoke,” he said.

Adrian claimed that the entertainment industry in Jakarta employed about 670,000 people and generated annual revenues of more than Rp 1.8 trillion ($200 million). Smoking, he added, was part of the attraction.

He also said the industry provided thousands well-paying jobs for people with little or no education.

“Sixty percent of people we hired are high school graduates, or sometimes they didn’t even go to school,” he said.

Taufiqurrohman, a Jakarta city councillor who appeared at the discussion to side with smokers, said that Governor Fauzi Bowo’s decision to issue the decree prohibiting smoking inside public buildings was thoughtless.

“As a governor, he should be taking care of more fundamental issues, like floods, traffic jams or poverty,” he said.

A clove cigarette lobbying group, Komunitas Kretek, earlier this month asked for a judicial review of the decree, saying it violated the rights of smokers.

Meanwhile, the National Commission for Child Protection (Komnas Anak), is calling for a total ban on cigarette advertisement, promotion and sponsorship, arguing that it was necessary to prevent the spread of the habit among the country’s youth.

Commission chairman Aris Merdeka Sirati said that a 2009 health law clearly defined the dangers of tobacco.

“In one of the articles it is stated that tobacco is an addictive substance just like with narcotics and alcohol,” Aris said. “The question is how come narcotics and alcohol cannot be advertised at all, while the ban on cigarette advertisement is only done half-heartedly and not totally banned.”



Additional reporting from Antara