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City wants more CSR to move street vendors
An official says that more private sector aid is needed to relocate street vendors to more centralized locations
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A
n official says that more private sector aid is needed to relocate street vendors to more centralized locations.
Jakarta Cooperatives, Small and Medium Enterprises and Trade Agency chief Ratnaningsih said that the administration had already relocated some vendors to two of 23 proposed locations.
'So far, we have reorganized only two of them ' in front of the Sunda Kelapa mosque and around the Indosiar TV station in West Jakarta ' with help of companies,' Ratnaningsih said recently.
Ratnaningsih said that she was still negotiating with companies to fund the program through corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs.
One street vendor, Mulyadi, said that he was glad to get a new metal cart to sell his dim sum in front of Sunda Kelapa Mosque. The 27-year-old was one of 46 vendors who received carts in January through the CSR program of city-owned Bank DKI.
'I used to use an old wooden cart that was no longer in good condition. This one helps me so much,' Mulyadi told The Jakarta Post.
However, Mulyadi said that he had faced difficulties in getting clean water for his daily needs, such as washing dishes, and had to go back and forth to get clean water from the mosque.
Deputy Governor Basuki 'Ahok' Tjahaja Purnama recently said that street vendors were a cause of traffic congestion and were an eyesore in the capital.
The relocation program, implemented in hopes of making Jakarta a more comfortable place, would need help from state-owned and private companies to make it successful, Ahok said.
Ratnaningsih, meanwhile, said that in the near future, the administration would relocate vendors around the Fatahillah Museum in West Jakarta, National Monument (Monas) Park in Central Jakarta and the Emporium Pluit Mall in North Jakarta.
Bank DKI spokesman Herry Djufraini said that the company had given 46 free metal carts to the vendors relocated near Sunda Kelapa and provided them with five-year soft loans ranging from Rp 3 million (US$308) to Rp 5 million.
'We are helping them because they are contributing to the country's revenue,' Herry said. 'Further, street vendors have faced persistent economic turbulence, proving that they survived the 1998 economic crisis.'
Chicken satay vendor Coki, whose stall was relocated by the administration in 2007, said that he liked his site at Tenda 46, an outdoor area for street vendors in front of state-owned Bank Negara Indonesia's headquarters on Jl. Sudirman, Central Jakarta.
'I have been part of Tenda 46 since 2007, when I got a wooden cart for free to sell chicken satay,' Coki said, pointing at the cart, painted a dark orange and blue, beside him.
The 30-year-old also said he also got one sink, a garbage bin and electricity for his daily use and only needed to pay Rp 30,000 a day to the coordinator for security and cleanliness.
'I don't have to be afraid of eviction here,' Coki said.
According to vendor coordinator, Suhadi, 72 vendors were currently operating 44 wooden carts at Tenda 46.
Every month, many vendors apply for a space at Tenda 46 but the area cannot accommodate them. (tam)
