Surabaya calls for public nursing rooms, limits child work hours

Saturday, September 17, 2011 16:12 PM


The Archipelago


Surabaya calls for public nursing rooms, limits child work hours

Indra Harsaputra, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya | Sat, 09/17/2011 10:08 PM


Surabaya’s shopping malls, offices and other public facilities are now obliged to provide rooms for breast-feeding mothers, in a requirement that came on the heels of a child protection ordinance.

The ordinance is part of the municipality’s campaign to turn the city into a peaceful and comfortable place for the public.

The municipal council approved the ordinance in its plenary session on Tuesday.

Surabaya Mayor Tri Rismaharini said the ordinance ensured protection and other rights of children including the right to their mother’s breast milk (ASI).

“I have sent circulars to all state and private agencies to provide a special room for breast-feeding mothers,” she said on Thursday.

Tri added that the nursing rooms should be set up in shopping malls, bus terminals, airports, seaports and other public places in the next few months.

“Besides the nursing rooms, private and state agencies should also allow for working mothers to breast-feed their children while working, since working mothers are also obliged to provide breast milk to their children,” she said.

Tri added that two shopping malls and a district administrative office in Surabaya were currently equipped with nursing rooms.

“The bylaw also stipulates that sanctions will be imposed on public recreation establishments and employers that employ children for more than five hours. They could be sentenced to three months in jail and fined Rp 50 million [US$5,700],” Tri said.

Tri added that the bylaw bans adult public recreation facilities from admitting anyone younger than 18 years old, including night clubs, adult karaoke parlors, massage parlors and saunas. Children below 18 are also not allowed to stay in hotels and motels without being accompanied by their parents.

Surabaya Children Crisis Center head Edward Dewaruci said the child protection bylaw in Surabaya showed that the administration was committed to creating a child-friendly city.

“I hope the ordinance will be firmly implemented, because many children in Surabaya work in the informal sector for more than five hours,” said Dewaruci.

The Indonesian Shopping Centers Management Association (APPBI) East Java chapter chairman Didi Woelyadi Simson said his association welcomed the bylaw and hoped the government would be consistent in law enforcement.

“The government has been less consistent in enforcing bylaws, as seen with the no-smoking ordinance. Every shopping center in Surabaya must provide smoking rooms, but many people ignore it and the public order police have never sanctioned them,” Didi said.

Surabaya Public Recreation Association head Yusuf Husni said the government should inform night club operators in advance to avoid confusion and implement the child protection bylaw — especially the ban on children under 18 from visiting discotheques and hotels.

“In general, I agree with the regulation on child protection, but the government should explain a number of rules to businessmen, such as the ban against children visiting night clubs and hotels,” he said.