Extension Of The Time For Discussion Of Non-Smoking Regional Regulations It Is Feared That The Covert Negotiation Room Will Be Opened

ILLUSTRATION OF DOK VOI

Secretary General of the National Commission for Tobacco Control, Tulus Abadi, regretted the decision of the Special Committee (Pansus) of the DKI Jakarta DPRD which extended the discussion time of the Draft Regional Regulation (Raperda) for Non-Smoking Areas (KTR).

In fact, the Special Committee for the KTR of the DKI DPRD has time to draw up a draft provision in the KTR Raperda until June 30, 2025. However, they extended the special committee's tenure because the discussion had not been completed.

"The KTR Special Committee team must be extended again, there must be a new decree as the Special Committee for the KTR team. As a result, the target for ratifying the KTR Regional Regulation in July 2025 will not be achieved, aka resigning. Of course this is very disappointing," Tulus told reporters, Monday, June 30.

From the time of discussion of the Raperda KTR, Tulus is worried about the potential for a hidden negotiation room by the relevant industry groups who do not want a tightening of cigarettes in Jakarta.

Moreover, the plan to discuss the Raperda KTR was postponed a dozen years ago. Tulus suspects that there are quite strong obstacles from the cigarette industry.

"Do not let the postponement of the discussion of the KTR Regional Regulation raise suspicions of covert negotiations to include and or cancel certain articles by the cigarette industry," he said.

Karena itu, Tulus mendorong agar Pansus KTR DPRD DKI Jakarta untuk lebih serius bekerja menyelesaikan Perda KTR. Mengingat, Jakarta dianggap sudah lagginggal dengan sejumlah daerah lain dalam menerapkan kebijakan kawasan tanpa olah.

"The city of Jakarta must be an example of higher regulatory compliance, namely law and PP Health. Because, in the Law and PP Health it is mandated that every regional government must make a regional regulation on KTR," he explained.

Previously, the Chairman of the Special Committee for the DKI Jakarta DPRD, Farah Savira, said that his party had extended the preparation of the KTR Raperda. Currently, the Special Committee for the DKI DPRD is still accommodating the aspirations of all parties, ranging from representatives of entertainment venue managers, cigarette manufacturers, to consumers.

"That's why in the RDP we present both parties. So it means entrepreneurs, smoker associations, etc., we invite building managers," said Farah.

Farah targets an extension of the discussion time for the KTR Raperda to be carried out until September 2025.

After that, the Special Committee handed over to the Regional Regulation Formation Agency (Bapemberda) of the DKI Jakarta DPRD to finalize the article per article in the draft.

For information, currently Jakarta does not have local regulations governing non-smoking areas. Currently, the rules regarding the prohibition of smoking in public spaces are still regulated in Governor Regulation Number 88 of 2010 concerning Amendments to Governor Regulation Number 75 of 2005 concerning Prohibited Smoking Areas.

Now the DPRD and the DKI Provincial Government are finalizing the draft Raperda KTR. There are 8 chapters consisting of 26 articles in the draft regulation.

Some of the provisions include that the area without cigarettes includes health care facilities, places for the teaching and learning process, places for children to play, places of worship, public transportation, workplaces, public places, integrated public spaces, and certain places that hold crowd permits.

Then, the types of public places referred to in Article 14, ranging from modern markets, traditional markets, hotels or inns, apartments/rusun, restaurants or restaurants, recreation areas or entertainment venues, bus stops, terminals/stations/labors/airports, meeting halls, and other public places.

The DPRD also had time to propose more detailed provisions in the KTR Raperda. At least, according to the Democratic-Perindo faction, there must be a clearer definition of the area without cigarettes in the KTR Raperda.

The definition referred to by the Democrat-Perindo faction is the provision of a minimum distance of 200 meters for non-smoking areas from sensitive facilities in Jakarta.

Then, the Gerindra faction of the DKI Jakarta DPRD proposed the inauguration of the phrase "public place" which is included in the non-smoking area in Article 4 letter h and Article 14 of the Raperda for Non-Smoking Areas. Gerindra asked that nightclubs be included in the provisions of no-smoking areas.