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Street vendors reject move
Despite the Jakarta administration requiring all street vendors in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta, to move into Block G of Tanah Abang Market, they continue to set up shops outside for fear of losing business
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espite the Jakarta administration requiring all street vendors in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta, to move into Block G of Tanah Abang Market, they continue to set up shops outside for fear of losing business.
The Public Order Agency (Satpol PP) regularly raids street vendors in Tanah Abang to prevent them from exacerbating the daily traffic jams in the area.
However, the vendors always return to the streets because the Satpol PP officers guard the area for only a couple of hours.
City-owned market operator PD Pasar Jaya has provided the second and third floors of Block G to accommodate the street vendors.
'They [Satpol PP] come at 6 a.m. and leave at 11 a.m.,'
Khaerul, a street vendor selling men's clothing, told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday. 'After they leave, we return to the street again.'
Khaerul, who has been a street vendor for two years, said he did not want to move into the market because he was afraid of losing buyers.
'I can earn up to Rp 2 million a day here,' he said. 'I don't want to move into Block G because it's still empty and only a few people shop there.'
Pasar Jaya finance director Warno said his company made 1,060 stalls, each 1.5 square meters wide, at Block G available for 782 street vendors.
'We have cleaned the floors and the vendors can occupy the stalls for free for the first six months,' he said, adding that the city administration had ordered that the Tanah Abang area be rid of street vendors by the end of Idul Fitri.
He said the city government should order Satpol PP personnel to guard Tanah Abang all day long to prevent street vendors from returning.
'I hope Block G will be full of traders and buyers again,' he said, adding that the block, built in 2005, used to be occupied by many traders but they left six months later because of a lack of buyers.
A clothes trader on the second floor of Block G, Muhsin, said only six traders now occupied the second floor and no one was trading on the third floor.
Muhsin said only a few buyers visited Block G every day.
'This place was filthy before the city administration planned the relocation of street vendors,' he said.
'If the city government wants to attract more buyers, it should renovate this block and add more facilities such as elevators.'
Separately, Jakarta Deputy Governor Basuki 'Ahok' Tjahaja Purnama said on Tuesday that the city administration would not hesitate to take tougher action against street vendors who refused to be
relocated.
'We have tried the soft approach. Should they insist on staying, we may take legal action,' he said, adding that most of the street vendors did not have Jakarta IDs.
He said the city administration welcomed people from outside Jakarta to do business in the city. 'However, we don't welcome them to occupy streets. It violates bylaws,' he said. (ian)
