TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Jakarta governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama or Ahok said that he is waiting for governor and deputy governor-elect Anis Baswedan and Sandiaga Uno to craft their programs in relation to the closure of night entertainment spot Alexis in North Jakarta.

“I’m looking forward to seeing the closure of Alexis,” Ahok told journalists about the plan at the Jakarta City Hall on Friday, April 21, 2017.

A few months ago, Ahok said that Alexis owned business permit as the Stadium and Mile’s night clubs that were closed by the Jakarta administration. Both night clubs were closed due to drugs cases. Alexis, on the other hand, remains open to this date.

According to Ahok, he has no authority to close down Alexis, since it needs strong evidence to close an entertainment spot. Former acting Jakarta Governor Sumarsono also encountered difficulties to close Alexis. According to Sumarsono, there are few stages to go through before closing down Alexis. The initial stage is to issue a warning letter.

Sumarsono revealed that Alexis has never received warning letter to this date.

“Upon the second warning letter, the license can be revoked,” Sumarsono said at the Jakarta City Hall on Monday, January 16, 2017.

Earlier, Jakarta governor-elect Anies Baswedan promised to close Alexis in North Jakarta.

“We’re committed to enforcing the regional regulation. We’ll take actions against violations based on the regional regulation,” Anies said in Jakarta on Thursday, April 20, 2017.

The regional regulation referred to by Anies is Jakarta Regional Regulation No. 8/2017 on public order. Anies and Sandi pledged to close down Alexis due to an allegation of human trafficking.

“There’s an indication [human trafficking], but we have no proof yet. We’ll take actions against prostitution,” Anie said in January 2017.

AVIT HIDAYAT | JULI | LARISSA HUDA | CHITRA PARAMAESTI

