Farmers seek to stub out govt regulation

(News Terupdate) - Thousands of tobacco farmers from Central Java flocked to the House of Representatives in Jakarta on Monday to rally against a government plan to issue a regulation on tobacco as an addictive substance.

With many wearing their traditional hats, the farmers swarmed on the House complex at 11 a.m. brandishing posters and chanting slogans condemning the government plan, which they said threatened the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of tobacco farmers across Indonesia.

“Don’t kill farmers,” one poster read. “Say no to drugs and yes to tobacco,” said another. “Reject the bill on tobacco as an addictive substance.”

The farmers, under the Association of Indonesian Tobacco Farmers, were bused in from several major tobacco-producing areas in Central Java, including Klaten and Temanggung.

The main feature of the protest was a 3-meter-long, 50-centimeter-thick mock cigarette made of twigs and leaves that the protesters burned.

It took 10 farmers to carry the giant “cigarette” to the House’s main gate and set it alight.

They also smoked oversized cigarettes in a snub of the government’s policy on tobacco.

Following the recent passage of the law on the tobacco industry, the government has been drafting an implementation ruling that will set further restrictions to the lucrative business that has long been the country’s biggest taxpayer.

Police supposedly securing the rally did not attempt to disperse the protesters, despite the severe traffic jam they caused along the main thoroughfare across from the House complex.

A smaller demonstration also took place at the Health Ministry over in Kuningan, South Jakarta, 3 kilometers away.

Protesters there demanded the government scrap the implementation ruling.

Like the demonstration at the House, the protest at the Health Ministry also caused traffic gridlock, this time along the busy Jl. Rasuna Said.

Some demonstrators were allowed into the ministry’s front yard in a bid to ease the traffic.

The demonstration ended peacefully.

Posted in: News Today