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The state needs a new approach to informal sector
The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Thu, 10/19/2006 10:30 AM | Opinion
Indraswari, Bandung
A number of television stations recently aired footage of public order officers demolishing warung (small shops) and stalls belonging to sidewalk vendors in cities like Padang, Manado, Medan, Jakarta and Depok, on the grounds that their establishment was against the law. The areas had been allocated for other public purposes.
Some traders resisted the move -- though in the end they lost -- while others tried to save whatever they could, possibly to build new stalls elsewhere.
In fact, in Indonesia such cases occur in many other cities and over time the public has become used to seeing demolitions being carried out. Public spaces, such as parks and pedestrian walks, are emptied of sidewalk traders, but temporarily only. The same or different traders will soon occupy the space.
It is a fight that is not just between the traders and the public order officers. It is a fight between the orang kecil (ordinary people) and the state.
This case also reflects the bigger issue of how the state views the informal sector and deals with their problems. According to Bryan Roberts (1990) in his article The informal sector in comparative perspectives, the informal sector is the means whereby city people make a living in the absence of both state provisions of basic welfare services and of private mutual interest associations which defends their members and advance their interests. Rather than seeing the informal sector as an alternative solution to unemployment and poverty problems, the demolitions imply that the state regards them as an eyesore.
Such an approach, however, does not solve anything. If the government is not yet able to provide jobs and basic services for this less fortunate group, demolitions will never be a solution as people will continue squatting in public places to make a living, otherwise they will not survive. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, in March the number of unemployed people stood at 11.1 million, while the number of people considered poor was 39.05 million. I suspect the real figures could be higher.
Several studies, including one cited by Evers and Korff (2000) in Southeast Asian urbanism, the meaning and power of social space have indicated that the informal sector and casual economy is obviously not a temporary feature of third world cities, but a characteristic of highly developed cities as well. This sector has saved millions of poor people and those living close to the poverty line from becoming even poorer. My own research found that the informal sector, in particular the warung -- mostly run by women -- contribute to between 40 and 100 percent of the total household income. Without warung these families would be in real trouble and their children might be forced to drop out of school.
I noticed in the TV footage that more female than male traders fought against the demolition of their stalls. The footage showed a war-like arena, in which a group of male public order officers and a group of predominantly female street-side traders -- both armed with sticks -- came face to face, and were ready to fight. In Padang, some female police officers were deployed to calm down the angry female traders.
Despite the growing tendency of so-called ""religious conservatism"", which limits women's participation in the public sphere, women -- when faced by economic pressure -- will do whatever they can to earn money to protect themselves and their children. In doing so, they never quote the patriarchal notion ""women are not the main breadwinners of families"" to refuse to work and put the responsibility on their husbands only. The patriarchal culture often emphasizes the notion of the male breadwinner and women's relegation to household work without looking at specific circumstances in which such a notion is inapplicable.
Economic activities in the informal sector give wealthier women extra cash to supplement the household income. For poor women, income from the informal sector becomes their main or only source of living, replacing the inadequate income of the ""male breadwinner"".
Although from a legal perspective trading in public places is against the law, it is urgent for the government to adopt another approach, given the fact that demolitions offer no solution. In the long run, poverty alleviation and creating job opportunities could solve the problem. In the short term, regulating this sector to guarantee fairness to all parties -- especially fairness to the poor -- is urgently required.
The writer is a lecturer at the Department of Public Administration, School of Social and Political Sciences, Parahyangan Catholic University, Bandung. She can be reached at indras@home.unpar.ac.id.
