Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – Residents of Saritem, the oldest red-light district in Bandung, West Java, were enraged Tuesday when public order officers began closing brothels as part of a plan to totally close down the area by November this year.
An elderly resident of Saritem, Etty, 60, expressed anger over the closure. The residents have urged the municipality to provide alternative employment for around 1,000 sex workers.
"The public order officers are safe as they get paid. How are we expected to live if we don't sell women here," quipped Etty, who openly described herself as a pimp in front of TV cameras.
Etty, who claims to be a native of the area, has 11 grandchildren, all of whom work as sex workers there. Besides the presence of pimps and middlemen, many residents take advantage of the thriving business by selling food and drinks, renting out rooms and offering their services as motorcycle taxi drivers.
Another resident, Pendi, 30, said that activities in the district has slowed down as most of the sex workers had returned to their hometowns a week before the fasting month of Ramadhan.
Authorities had initially informed residents of the permanent closure in early September.
A public order officer, Taspen Effendi, disclosed that the closure would be done in stages since residents had not fully accepted it. As of Tuesday, only five of the 81 brothels had been sealed by the municipal police. "We're not finished. We'll seal the rest by November," said Taspen.
Data at the Kebon Jeruk subdistrict office in Andir district, shows that the brothels are located in two neighborhood units – RW 7 neighborhood unit consisting of 207 sex workers and 28 pimps and the RW 9 with 243 sex workers and 45 pimps.
Saritem has existed since the Dutch colonial period. The Bandung municipality has been planning to close down the red-light district since 1998.
The municipality allocated billions of rupiah to build the Darut Taubah Islamic boarding school in the area in 2000 to change the image of the area and provide religious guidance to motivate the sex workers – around 80 percent of whom come from outside the city – to quit the profession. However, six years on, it has failed to have had a favorable impact on the sex workers.
The closure of Saritem was incorporated in a 2005 city bylaw on order, cleanliness and beauty, which will take effect in November this year. The article on prostitution in the bylaw stipulates a fine of Rp 50 million (US$5,600) for providers of sexual services – pimps and sex workers – while users of the services will be subject to a Rp 5 million fine.