Indonesian smokers puff over cigarette curbs

JAKARTA, Jun 13 (Reuters) In the stairwell of an office complex in the Indonesian capital, office workers nonchalantly puff away in front of a ''No smoking'' sign.

Smoking may be banned in public places in parts of Jakarta, but many smokers say they don't give a damn.

''It's difficult to cut back on smoking especially when you live in stressful Jakarta. The pressure makes you want to light up one cigarette after another,'' said smoker Shas Hasibuan.

While the number of smokers in many Western countries has fallen in recent years, experts say more than a third of Indonesia's population smokes today compared with a little over 25 per cent about a decade ago.

Indonesia is the world's fifth largest cigarette market and tobacco is big business even as smoking takes a toll on the health of Indonesians and pushes millions further into poverty.

Most Indonesians smoke traditional clove cigarettes which were invented in the late 19th century to ward off illnesses.

Called ''kretek'' for the crackling sound they make when they burn, the cigarettes usually contain added flavours such as chocolate and dried fruits. Some taste sweet, others spicy, but they are all distinctly Indonesian.

''Kretek is the common thread which ties Indonesian people together in spite of their historical, cultural, ethnic and religious differences,'' author Mark Hanusz wrote in a book on kretek.

But health officials are worried as kreteks -- used by 90 per cent of Indonesian smokers -- have roughly double the nicotine and tar levels of ordinary cigarettes.

''I see more patients now who suffer from strokes and vascular problems at a very young age compared to 20 years ago,'' said Ronaly Rasmin, spokesman for the Indonesian Heart Foundation.

According to the World Health Organisation, about a quarter of deaths in Indonesia in 2005 were caused by smoking and 80 per cent of lung and respiratory cancer cases were due to smoking.

''The government must make tobacco control a priority because tobacco poses a clear detriment to health. The hidden costs is very high, not only in terms of healthcare but also in terms of economic losses,'' said Albert Maramis, a WHO tobacco expert.

Cigarettes in Indonesia are among the cheapest in the world with a pack costing around 1 dollar.

''Seventy percent of smokers come from the poorer parts of Indonesia. Men in poor families can smoke up to two packs a day. The price of a pack is the same as a kilo of rice,'' said Tuti Indarsih Loekman, a lawmaker supporting the anti-tobacco bill.

''These families can barely afford their daily meals ... I call this impoverishing the poor.'' But cutting down on smoking is not easy. Indonesia's 8-billion dollar tobacco industry provides jobs for 7 million people and contributes about 10 percent to the government's coffers.

The industry expects to pay 42 trillion rupiah (4.76 billion dollar) cigarette excise this year, up from 11 trillion in 2001.

Cigarette makers such as Gudang Garam and Sampoerna are among the biggest blue chips on the stock exchange. The four tobacco companies listed on the Jakarta bourse have a combined market capitalisation of over 6 billion dollar.

Some lawmakers have been trying to introduce an anti-tobacco bill seeking to ban advertising by tobacco firms, increase taxes on cigarettes and make graphic warnings on cigarette packs mandatory.

But so far their efforts have met with little success.

The bill's opponents say it will harm millions who depend on the tobacco industry for a living.

''There has to be research on the impact of the bill on tobacco farmers, cigarette factories and the people who work in the industry,'' said Franciscus Xaverius Soekarno, a parliamentarian who opposes the bill.

Indonesia is also reluctant to sign the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) aimed at cutting cigarette consumption because of concerns about the developing country's economy.

China, which is the world's largest cigarette producer, is among countries that have signed the treaty.

But experts say the fears are misplaced.

''This is a myth that tobacco farmers and cigarette workers will lose their jobs,'' Loekman told Reuters. ''China has signed the FCTC and they supply 60 per cent of the world's cigarettes.'' With few regulations and cheap cigarettes, Indonesians puffed some 220 million cigarettes last year.

Laws banning smoking in public places in Jakarta are regularly flouted by smokers in a country so beset by problems that many see smoking as the least of their worries.

''The pollution in Jakarta is so bad that even if you're not a smoker your lungs will look like you're one,'' said Hasibuan.

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