Uproar About Anies' Letter To Bloomberg Asking For Anti-Smoking Funds, Deputy Governor Riza Denies

Jakarta Deputy Governor Riza Patria/VOI-Diah Ayu

JAKARTA - Circulating on social media a letter sent by the Governor of DKI Jakarta Anies Baswedan to Michael R. Bloomberg regarding an invitation to collaborate on an anti-smoking campaign.

Bloomberg is the founder of the Bloomberg Philanthrophies who is said to have often invested his money in funding the tobacco control movement.

This letter was actually sent by Anies on July 4, 2019. However, it is currently being questioned because Anies issued a policy forbidding cigarette advertisements in minimarkets to deploy Satpol PP to close cigarette windows.

What caused a stir, the Twitter account @rokok_indonesia said that Anies' current action was related to sending a letter to Bloomberg two years ago. The account accused Anies of asking for funds to carry out an anti-smoking campaign in the capital.

However, this allegation was denied by the Deputy Governor of DKI Jakarta, Ahmad Riza Patria. Riza emphasized that Anies simply invited Bloomberg to collaborate on tobacco control in the capital city.

"There is no request for funds in this letter. This is precisely our commitment as a city of collaboration. We want to ensure that Jakarta joins other world cities to become us who are healthy," said Riza at DKI City Hall, Central Jakarta, Monday, October 4.

Riza explained that Anies' principle of sending a letter to Bloomberg is to ensure that Jakarta becomes a healthy city by limiting the number of cigarette consumers, especially children and teenagers.

"We, the provincial government, have a high commitment to the health of the citizens. As we know, smoking is not healthy. We ask the citizens of Jakarta to live a healthy life, avoid consumption that can lead to a decline or cause health to decline," he explained.

Why did you attack Anies Baswedan? Yes, because Belio asked for a share from the Bloomberg Initiative for an anti-smoking campaign. pic.twitter.com/V5dBzX6pvc

— Cigarettes Indonesia (@rokok_indonesia) October 1, 2021

For information, the party that enlivened Anies' letter to Bloomberg was the cigarette_indonesia Twitter account. The account explains the reason why the kretek community rejects the call from the Governor of DKI Jakarta Anies Baswedan Number 8 of 2021 regarding the Development of Smoking Areas.

"Why did you attack Anies Baswedan? Yes, because Belio asked for a share from the Bloomberg Initiative for the anti-smoking campaign," wrote the cigarette_indonesia account.