After lifting ban, Fauzi vows not to approve new minimarkets in city

Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo says that the city will not issue new permits for minimarkets and convenience stores and will crack down on establishments operating without proper permits.

The city recently lifted a six-year moratorium on opening new stores in Jakarta.

Fauzi said that the city would be focusing on enforcing regulations for the minimarkets currently operating in Jakarta.

“We revoked the moratorium, but we will not approve permits for new establishments before we are done with the current problem,” the governor said.

According to a report compiled in 2011, 1,443 of 1,868 minimarkets recorded in Jakarta lacked all needed operating permits.

Thirty-seven of those delinquent stores were located less than 500 meters from the nearest traditional market, in violation of local law, according to the report. Nine of those stores were closed last year, with the remaining 28 facing a similar fate.

Jakarta Bylaw No. 2/2002 on Private Markets states that minimarkets must be located at least 500 meters from the nearest traditional market and be no larger than 4,000 square meters.

The administration previously ordered 1,192 minimarkets that were both too near to traditional markets and outside designated commercial areas to relocate.

Most minimarkets in Jakarta are operated by retail giants Indomaret and Alfamart under franchise agreements. Other operators include Star Mart, OMI, Ceria Mart and Yomart.

The city will also enforce the bylaw on the 7-Eleven chain, whose outlets have been classified as restaurants.

The Jakarta Tourism Agency reported that only 15 of the 57 7-Elevens operating in the city had all required permits.

Separately, Alfamart corporate affairs director Soihin said that the company would abide by the city’s bylaws.

“We will continue opening new establishments and we will obey every regulation,” Solihin said.

Solihin, however, said that 7-Eleven had no plans to open new stores in Jakarta.

“We are focusing on regional market outside the capital,” he said.

7-Eleven spokesperson Neneng Mulyati said that the company would study whether the city’s recent decision would affect their business, even though their establishments were not classified as minimarkets.

“We will coordinate with the tourism agency, which issues permits for restaurants,” Neneng said.

The administration issued a regulation in 2006 that imposed a moratorium on opening new minimarkets following a surge in the number of stores in the Jakarta.

The moratorium banned all city agencies and officials from issuing permits or legal documents for new minimarkets or convenience stores.

There were 525 minimarkets and convenience stores in Jakarta in 2006.

A representative of the Jakarta City Council expressed regret that the administration revoked the moratorium, saying the city should have waited for the issuance of a new bylaw on private markets.

The administration submitted a draft to amend a 2002 bylaw on minimarkets last year.

The draft proposed that minimarkets be approved based on a zoning system to be developed by the council’s regional legislation board.

One of the provisions in the administration’s draft would increase the size of the buffer zone between traditional markets and new minimarkets.

The council is planning to set new limits on the number of minimarkets in the city following the moratorium’s failure to limit the establishment of new stores.