Jakarta – The Tangerang municipal administration – which is still continuing to pursue its vision of a more moralistic society through regulation – will in the near future likely be compelled to revise its controversial bylaw banning alcoholic drinks.

Through a letter signed on March 30, Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi ordered the municipal administration to revise bylaw No. 7/2005, which bans the consumption and distribution of alcoholic beverages in the Tangerang area because it is regarded as against a Presidential Decree issued in 1997.

The Presidential Decree allows the distribution of alcoholic drinks with alcohol content under 5 percent.

However, Tangerang mayor Wahidin Halim said he would provide the Minister clarification on the legitimacy of the bylaw before deciding to revise it. "We will try to explain that the bylaw is not at all against the Presidential Decree or other laws above it," Wahidin said Friday.

According to the mayor, since the bylaw took affect in 2005, most residents feel more comfortable due to the decline in the distribution of alcohol in the city.