Tangerang – South Tangerang municipality has begun to crack down on restaurants that have violated the city's regulation regarding opening hours during Ramadhan, in order to "maintain the holiness of Ramadhan and interfaith tolerance".

In June, the South Tangerang administration and South Tangerang Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) issued a joint announcement letter prohibiting any food stalls to operate before 12 p.m.

In the announcement letter, both institutions say that tourism-related businesses, such as restaurants and cafes, should respect fasting Muslims by not operating from 4 a.m. to 12 noon. If they open after 12 p.m., they are obliged to install barrier curtains.

In line with the enforcement of the letter, the Public Order Agency and South Tangerang Culture and Tourism Agency sealed eight restaurants at the Flavor Bliss food court in Alam Sutera last week because they started operating before noon.

When representatives of the two agencies inspected the restaurants around 10:30 a.m., Papa Jack was caught serving two customers at two tables, employee Bimo said, admitting that the restaurant had opened at 8 a.m. that day.

Wendy's assistant manager Sugi said that they thought the municipality's letter was just an appeal, not an obligation. "We misunderstood the regulation," he said.

A McDonald's restaurant in Ciputat put an announcement on its doors saying that in compliance with the administration's letter, the restaurant would only serve "drive thru" and delivery service from 5 a.m. to 12 p.m.

However, many restaurants in South Tangerang, like Bakmi Pelangi, continued to open in the morning in spite of the ban.

"We have a permit from the tourism agency to begin our operation in the morning as long as we put curtains in front of the restaurant," said employee Sella, adding that the agency also allowed her restaurant to operate in the morning because its owner is non-Muslim.

Separately, Acintya Indracara, a non-Muslim resident of Jombang in South Tangerang, said that she did not know about the regulation because during Ramadhan she found that many restaurants were open in the morning.

"I can easily find breakfast and lunch during Ramadhan as most restaurants are open. That's why I wasn't aware of such a regulation," she said. She criticized, however, South Tangerang's regulations as discriminatory.

Mayor Airin Rachmi Diany said that the regulations were introduced four years ago and had so far not negatively impacted the business climate.

The authorities decided to allow restaurants to start operating at 12 p.m. because South Tangerang is a transit city and many long-distant travelers pass through the city during long-distance trips.

"We allow the restaurants to open at 12 p.m. because we would like to respect long-distant travelers who are fasting for a half day," Airin said.

In addition, Airin denied that the regulation was unfair to non-Muslims. "This is a form of interfaith tolerance. How difficult it is to uphold tolerance by not eating outside until 12 p.m.? You can eat at home, anyway." (agn)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/07/08/restaurants-lay-low-during-ramadhan.html