State Minister Talks of Train Stations Dumping Cigarette Ads

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi agrees with the anti-smoking agenda that voiced by the Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) regarding the cigarette advertisements placed at train stations.

“As it should, cigarette ads don’t belong in train stations. It’s different if they are on private places, it would be up to them” said the minister at Maratua Airport on Wednesday, October 24.

Minister Budi argues that cigarette advertisements would be a bad example for the younger generations, who he says often uses the train station.

Reported yesterday, YLKI urged state railway company KAI to take down cigarette advertisements displayed in several train stations. YLKI chairman Tulus Abadi said his foundation commonly received public complaints regarding the commercial in those areas.

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“YLKI urges KAI president director to annul the agreement with tobacco industry related to cigarette ads in stations and remove the already displayed ones,” said Tulus in a written statement on Wednesday, Oct 24.

Tulus opined such ads in train stations are a serious setback for the state-owned railway operator. “This issue has been removed during the era of Pak Jonan (Ignasius Jonan) as KAI director.”

According to Tulus, the complaints were mostly coming from KAI consumers in the operation area of Yogyakarta. The stations displaying smoke commercials were Tugu, Lempuyangan, and Solo Balapan.

In response, Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) spokesman, Agus Komaruddin, said that the company entirely adheres to government policies in regards to cigarette advertisements in its railway stations.

CHITRA PARAMAESTI