Governor Ahok Officially Bans Cigarette Reclames In Jakarta In Today's Memory, January 13, 2015

SMPN 104 Student School put up a banner with the words Cigarette Advertising Free Stall at a shop in Jakarta, Wednesday (4/11/2015). (Between/Muhammad Adimaja)

JAKARTA Memories of today, nine years ago, January 13, 2015, the Governor of DKI Jakarta, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (Ahok) officially enacted a Governor Regulation (Pergub) which regulates the prohibition of cigarette billboards. The decision was taken because Ahok wanted to protect Jakarta children from the influence of cigarettes.

Previously, the growth rate of smokers from among children could not be underestimated. The presence of cigarette advertisements through advertisements and billboards is considered to have contributed greatly. The government was also asked to take immediate action.

Perhaps the cigarette industry is one of the businesses that is often successful in promotional matters. Business owners are able to massively promote in various mediums. Instead of just sponsoring sports events to music, promotions are also carried out through advertisements on television and billboards.

Problems arise. The market target is not only to bring up new smokers from adults. Smokers from among children are actually also growing. Take for example in the National Economic Survey of the Central Statistics Agency (BPS).

Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (Ahok) who served as Governor of DKI Jakarta from the 2014-2017 era. (VOI/Mery Handayani)

The agency showed the number of smokers who started smoking at the age of under 19 had increased sharply. The number reached 79 percent in 2004 from the previous 69 percent in 2001. This condition is worrying. This is because the survey also shows a trend in the age of the initiation of smoking even earlier: age 5-9 years.

New smokers in the age group experienced a significant increase from 0.4 percent in 2001 to 1.8 percent in 2004. This condition made the National Commission for Child Protection of Indonesia (KPAI) furious. They asked the government to take immediate action. Everything so that children who incidentally still enjoy growing up are not contaminated by cigarettes and their dangers.

"These children are only victims of the exploitation of the cigarette industry. This phenomenon shows that the government is negligent in guaranteeing children's rights and growth and development. So we KPAI will not back down a bit to fight for the Draft Government Regulation (RPP)," explained the Chairman of KPAI, Arist Merdeka Sirait as quoted on the website Detik.com, June 24, 2010.

The dangerous conditions for children have made many local governments take a stand. Even though the health RPP related to tobacco has not yet been ratified. The DKI Jakarta Provincial Government, for example. The Governor of DKI Jakarta, Ahok, feels sad about the growth of child smokers.

This condition should not continue. He also wants to break the chain of growth of child smokers. On that basis, Ahok issued Governor Regulation No. 1 of 2015 Regarding the Prohibition of the Implementation of Cigarette and Tobacco Products in Outdoor Media.

The governor's regulation prohibits cigarette billboards from attending Jakarta. The governor's regulation was enacted on January 7, 2015 and promulgated on January 13, 2015.

"The governor's regulation was issued because of the increasing number of children consuming cigarettes in Jakarta. So, the publication (smoking) must be limited. If the advertisement is already installed, it will be left installed until the permit expires. However, in the future, the permit should not be extended again. Effective or not, basically we want to prohibit cigarette advertisements. We don't want more and more children to consume cigarettes," Ahok said as quoted by the Kompas.com page, January 26, 2015.