Despite regulations expressly forbidding smoking inside of public space for years, many of the city’s numerous malls have allowed customers to puff away inside, more afraid of angering them then being punished by the government.
But late last month, that started to change. A woman caused a viral sensation by starting an online petition after she and her baby were asked to move to accommodate a smoker inside a J.Co cafe inside Pluit Village mall.
The petition got a lot of attention and led to Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama to declare that he would get tough on malls found to be violating the indoor smoking ban, saying he would send undercover agents to shopping centers to find violators.
But change is slow and one month is not a long time for Jakarta venues give up their smoking tolerant ways. That’s why the Smoke Free Coalition of Jakarta (SFJ) recently issued a list of places in the capital where they either monitored indoor smoking violations or received reports on throughout this month.
The list includes a whopping155 locations, ranging from police stations and government offices to hotels and schools. But the ones the public would probably be most angry about would be the 14 malls that continue to violate Gubernatorial Regulation No. 75/2005 prohibiting smoking indoors in public areas.
Those 14 malls are:
- Kalibata City
- Plaza Kalibata
- Plaza Blok M
- Mall Cijantung
- Tamini Square
- Pusat Grosir Cililitan
- La Plaza Mall
- Mall Sunter
- ITC Cempaka Mas
- Hypermall Kelapa Gading
- Mall Puri Agung
- Season City
- LTC Glodok
- Thamrin City
“The ban on smoking in certain places, including malls, has already been regulated by law so there must be sanctions. After the warning and a mention of the [violator’s] name, there should be a temporary suspension and eventually a revocation of the permit. But, so far sanctions have been inconsistent,” said SJF coordinator Dollaris Riauaty Suhadi in Jakarta today, as quoted by Suara Pembaruan.
SFJ said the public should submit reports if they find indoor public places where smoking is being allowed. Dollaris said reports could be made through the Qlue Smart City application, the SFJ website, or to the Regional Environment Management Agency (BPLHD) by calling 021-522 8694.
