Nearly a year after outdoor tobacco ad ban went into effect, cigarette billboards go down in Mampang 

Yes, this is a real billboard ad that was once used in Jakarta 

On January 7, Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama signed into law a regulation banning outdoor advertising for cigarettes and other tobacco products. If you were unaware of the new regulation, we wouldn’t be surprised, given the numerous cigarette ads that still seem to be found in every corner of the capital.

But progress is in fact being made on enforcing the regulation, with Civil Service Police Officers (Satpol PP) in Mampang Prapatan, South Jakarta, starting to take down a number cigarette billboards this week.

Mampang Prapatan Satpol PP head Asril Rizal said the cigarette billboards that were being taken down were those whose licenses had already expired. Ahok’s regulation allowed cigarette billboards to stay up until their licenses were up but does not allow them to be renewed. 

However, Asril said that even those billboards that still  have valid licenses will go down by the end of 2015, as the city should be completely free of outdoor cigarette ads by next year. 

“Later at the end of December we will organize [more takedowns] as well. Because according to the governor’s regulation, beginning in January 2016 there should no longer be cigarette billboards in Jakarta,” he said as quoted by Kompas.