Jakarta – The Banda Aceh Public Order Agency and Wilayatul Hisbah (Satpol PP WH), or "sharia police", plans to intensify monitoring during of Ramadan to prevent violations of Islamic law under a mandate from the Regional Leadership Coordination Forum (Forkopimda), according to the agency's duty chief.
"We have routine [patrols] every day, but we will increase our supervision even further during Ramadan," Banda Aceh Satpol PP WH head Muhammad Rizal said on Thursday in the Acehnese capital, as quoted by kompas.com.
The agency had mapped out priority regions for the intensified patrol, such as the subdistricts of Peunayong and Kampung Baru, he added, and that rules specific to the holy fasting month included an opening time of 9:30 p.m. for coffee shops and cafes.
"We will make sure that no establishments are open during isya [evening prayer] and tarawih [Ramadan evening prayers]," Rizal said.
Hotels will be the main focus of patrol personnel, while the agency will run a concurrent public campaign on education and awareness to encourage compliance with sharia.
The country's westernmost region of Aceh imposes Islamic law under its designation as a special province.
Ramadan is expected to begin on the evening of March 1 this year, pending confirmation from the government's moonsighting committee after observing the phase of the moon on Friday.
The country's second-largest Muslim organization Muhammadiyah, which uses a different method to determine the first day of the fasting month, announced in mid-January a starting date of March 1.
Meanwhile, the Aceh Food Agency has assured the public that food supplies were stable for Ramadan.
Badriah Hasballah, the agency's food availability and security head, said her office had monitored food stocks and made projections in anticipation of the expected surge in demand during the Ramadan-Idul Fitri holiday season.
"We've prepared food supply projections, not just for Ramadan, but for every month. The goal is to assess demand and supply so we can prepare preventive measures, particularly during major religious holidays," she said on Monday, as quoted by state-owned radio station RRI.