K

iswanto, a 28-year-old food vendor, could only heave a long sigh upon realizing that he was not among the street vendors who would be legally permitted to do business around the historical Kota Tua (Old Town) in West Jakarta.

“I heard about the plan from a friend, but no official has come to collect my data or ask my opinion on the matter,” said the tahu gejrot (fried tofu served in a spicy sauce) vendor while grinding chili and garlic on a small mortar.

The father of two who earns around Rp 50,000 (US$5.17) daily said he would accept eviction from the spot where he had parked his food cart for the last two years.

“If it [the administration] bans me from here, I’ll probably just hit the road again and sell tahu gejrot door-to-door,” he said, adding that he could not do much as he was only a squatter without a Jakarta ID.

The Jakarta administration is now preparing to regulate street vendors scattered around the area as a part of a makeover project to turn the oldest part of the city, located in the western bank of the Ciliwung River, into a Venice-like tourism spot.

However, the city can only place 260 out of around 700 street vendors that usually jam the area.

Jakarta Deputy Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama recently said that the complex could not accommodate all the street vendors.

“We will prioritize the ones who have been operating there for a long time and the ones who have Jakarta IDs,” he said.

One of lucky vendors able to secure a spot in the complex was Chandra, a 42-year-old Minang cuisine vendor.

Chandra said his brother, the head of a vendor community in the complex, had met with the deputy governor and chosen the vendors who would be allowed to operate there.

“We have been doing business in this area for a very long time, so I think it’s fair that the administration picked us,” he said.

He added that his family had founded businesses in the area since 1988.

Chandra said he hoped that with better organization, more visitors would come to the town and improve business.

The head of the Jakarta Small Business and Cooperation Agency, Ratna Ningsih, said her agency had designed four clusters for the 260 street vendors.

Ratna said the four clusters would be divided based on the type of products the vendors sold.

She explained that vendors who sold cooked food would be stationed on the sidewalk beside the Pos Indonesia building and next to the Bank Mandiri Museum.

“We will provide chairs, tables and canopies,” she said.

She said non-food product vendors who sold items such as clothes and accessories would occupy the alley near Batavia Café, while the non-cooked food vendors would be located near the river.

The project would be executed at the end of February, Ratna added.

Ahok said the project would clear out vendors occupying the Jakarta History Museum square in the middle of the complex, thereby giving tourist’s unobstructed views of the classic buildings around the square.

The museum is also known as the Fatahillah museum.

“Tourists have a hard time getting to Batavia Café [located across from the Fatahillah museum], for example, because many street vendors are in their way,” he said.

Kota Tua is part of a 15-hectare complex built by the Dutch in 1620.

It has now become a cheap tourist destination for Jakartans.

Many of its buildings are in need of renovation and the complex is untidy as vendors and squatters occupy every corner of the area.

The city administration has allocated Rp 12 billion from the 2013 regional budget to restore the semi-slum once known as “The Queen of the East”.

Funds in excess of Rp 150 billion, will pay for the total renovation of Kota Tua, including several historical buildings, in 2014. (cor)