Yahoo – AFP,
Andi Cora Uleng, With Dessy Sagita in Jakarta, 11 March 2016
 |
Bone-Bone
village looks like any other rural hamlet in Indonesia, but it is an unlikely
champion in the fight against smoking in one of the world's most
tobacco-addicted
countries (AFP Photo/Cening Unru)
|
Bone-Bone
(Indonesia) (AFP) - Nestled amid mountains in remote central Indonesia,
Bone-Bone looks like any other rural hamlet in the archipelago, with a modest
collection of houses, shops and mosques and people quietly going about their
daily lives.
But it is
an unlikely champion in the fight against smoking in one of the world's most
tobacco-addicted countries, after it became the first village in Indonesia to
impose a total ban on smoking.
"Thank
you for not smoking, say no to cigarettes" reads a sign at the entrance to
the settlement to Sulawesi, one of the archipelago's main islands, while
another says "Please enjoy the scenery and fresh air in our village".
 |
Children
play football in Bone-Bone, the
first village in Indonesia that has imposed a total ban on smoking (AFP Photo/ Cening Unru) |
Such bans
are just a small step in a country where 30 percent of the adult population are
smokers, and more than 200,000 die every year due to tobacco-related illnesses,
according to public health experts in Indonesia.
More than
two thirds of adult males in Indonesia use tobacco, the highest rate in the
world, according to the World Health Organisation's Global Adult Tobacco
Survey, although far fewer women smoke.
In recent
decades, many countries in the developed world have launched campaigns to cut
tobacco use, ramped up prices, restricted cigarette advertising and banned
smoking in public places, leading to sharp falls in smoking rates.
While
Indonesia is not alone among developing countries in lagging behind in efforts
to tackle tobacco use, even by regional standards it fares poorly.
Tobacco
adverts remain highly visible around Indonesia, on billboards and posters, it
is the only country in Southeast Asia that still allows cigarette advertising
on television, and the only one in the Asia-Pacific region not to have ratified
a key UN treaty on tobacco control.
The
domestic tobacco industry remains hugely lucrative and powerful, and it is
common to see children smoking a sweet-tasting clove cigarette -- an extremely
popular Indonesian speciality, which dominates the local market.
 |
Village
head Abdul Wahid stand next to an anti-smoking campaign poster that
reads "Cigarettes are a killer" and "You the one who smoke, we the one who die" at his house in Bone-Bone village (AFP Photo/Cening Unru) |
'I can
save money'
But in
Bone-Bone, it is a different story. Smoking has almost entirely disappeared
among the population of around 800 inhabitants since the ban came into force a
decade ago.
Rather than
worries about villagers contracting cancer, economic concerns were what
prompted then village head, Muhammad Idris, to implement the ban through a
local bylaw.
He said
that many poor families in the area could not afford to send their children to
school because their fathers were spending too much on smoking, and the
youngsters themselves got addicted to the costly habit at a young age.
While
cigarettes are cheap by international standards in Indonesia -- with a packet
of a local brand costing around the equivalent of a dollar -- a heavy habit can
strongly impact the finances of poor families with meagre incomes.
"I
went to college with 13 other students from this village, only six graduated,
the rest dropped out because they spent their tuition money on
cigarettes," Idris told AFP.
The ban was
implemented in stages. In 2000, local authorities prohibited the sale of
cigarettes in Bone-Bone, smoking in public places was forbidden from 2003, and
then a full ban on both smoking and selling tobacco products -- for residents
and visitors -- came into force in 2006.
 |
A family
works at a house in Bone-Bone village in Enrekang, South Sulawesi (AFP
Photo/Cening Unru)
|
Punishments
for those caught breaking the rules include community service, such as cleaning
up mosques in the staunchly Muslim village and their neighbourhood, while some
have even been forced to issue a public apology to the entire village through a
loudspeaker.
Amir, a
blacksmith and father of nine in Bone-Bone, was forced to end his 40-a-day
habit by the ban, but has found himself much better off.
"I can
save money, I can buy what my family needs and -- most importantly -- I can pay
for my children's education," said Amir, who like many Indonesians goes by
one name.
About 10
villages across the country have followed Bone-Bone's example by imposing a
smoking ban, a move made possible by the heavy decentralisation of power
introduced in the archipelago after the end of authoritarian rule in 1998.
Government backsliding
But the
numbers of people affected out of a population of 250 million remain tiny,
there is little sign of an effective, national strategy to tackle the problem,
while activists accuse the government of backsliding in the fight against
tobacco.
In August,
the industry ministry set a target for domestic producers to produce around 130
billion cigarettes a year over the coming four years, around fifty percent
higher than the previous four-year target.
 |
In 2000,
local authorities prohibited the sale of cigarettes in Bone-Bone, smoking
in
public places was forbidden from 2003, and then a full ban on both smoking and
selling tobacco products came into force in 2006 (AFP Photo/Cening Unru)
|
"The
government want our people to smoke as many cigarettes as possible," said
prominent tobacco control activist Kartono Muhammad.
Indonesia's
health ministry has produced a roadmap to fight smoking but officials admit
implementation has been poor, with a lack of coordination between different
branches of the notoriously bloated and ineffective bureaucracy undermining
efforts.
In the face
of growing evidence that smoking is affecting Indonesians' health and making
them poor, the tobacco industry remains defiant.
Ismanu
Sumiran, chairman of the association of Indonesian cigarette producers, most of
whose members produce clove cigarettes, insisted smoking rates were falling and
that "kretek" cigarettes are part of local culture.
"Even
before this country was formed, kreteks already existed and were used in
traditional ceremonies," he told AFP.
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