S. Tangerang mayor asks for help against prostitution

The Jakarta Post, Tangerang Sat, March 02 2013,


South Tangerang Mayor Airin Rachmi Diany is calling on residents to help the administration combat increasing levels of prostitution in the 4-year-old municipality, following complaints lodged by local clerics.

Adopting a conventional way to resolve prostitution-related issues, Airin said on Friday that the public should share the responsibility for the problem of prostitution in residential areas due to the limited capacity of the Public Order Agency.

“I have received reports from city public order officers that residents in several districts used to participate in sweeping stalls and massage parlors, which were offering sex,” she said during a development planning meeting in Serpong.

“Community members should help us [again] because it will take [more] time if they leave everything up to the administration,” she said, adding that some locals had benefited financially from the presence of prostitution.

South Tangerang Ulema Council secretary Abdul Rozak said the administration should not only focus on physical development in the municipality, leaving behind problems that could harm residents due to the levels of prostitution.

“There must be a balance between physical and religious development. It seems that prostitution has been ignored. It will have a negative effect on our culture if this is not resolved,” he said.

Based on The Jakarta Post’s observations, massage parlors and stalls that offer sex as one of their services are easily found on almost every street in South Tangerang, including on Jl. Raya Tegal Rotan, Babakan subdistrict, and on Jl. Raya Puspitek, which links Pamulang, Serpong and Setu districts.

“It’s better to rent a kiosk rather than a house because I can use it as a residence and place of business at the same time,” said Saina, 37, who runs a massage parlor on Jl. Raya Tegal Rotan in Pondok Aren.

“I have placed an advertisement that sex is banned here. But I cannot interfere with whatever happens inside the rooms because we respect our guests’ privacy. [After all] we just need to survive,” she told the Jakarta Post.