Basuki Feels ‘Ashamed’ of City’s No-Smoking Awards

Jakarta Deputy Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama said on Wednesday that he felt “ashamed” after receiving four awards from the Environment Ministry for no-smoking policies in city buildings. “The awards made me ashamed, because we have to admit we are still so far behind on environmental issues,” Basuki said. “But if we start today to do the right things to create the new Jakarta, I believe in just one or two decades the environmentally friendly Jakarta is no longer a dream.”
Eight city buildings, including Wisma BCA, Central Jakarta, and Manhattan Hotel in South Jakarta, were congratulated by the ministry for their consistent success in implementing no-smoking policies. “We always list the buildings that violate the regulation on no-smoking zones, it’s time to give appreciation for buildings that complied with the policy,” Muhammad Tauchid at the Jakarta Environmental Management Agency (BPLHD) said on Wednesday. The regulation refers to a 2010 bylaw issued by former Jakarta governor Fauzi Bowo to curb tobacco addiction in the capital. The bylaw ordered an end to smoking rooms, but now allows smoking outside of buildings in order to comply with a recent Constitutional Court ruling. While 27 percent of the adult male population in Indonesia were smokers in 1995, the figure jumped to 67 percent in 2011, data compiled from the National Socio-Economic Survey, the Basic Health Care Survey and the Global Adult Tobacco Survey indicate. From 1995 to 2011, the number of female smokers rose to 4.5 percent from 1.7 percent.