T

he presence of street vendors in Jakarta is undeniably an important part of the people'€™s economy. They even had a vital role in keeping the city'€™s economy rolling during the economic crisis of 1998. At the same time, however, they often cause a lot of problems, particularly when thugs are an inseparable part of their business.

It is due to the presence of such thugs that the Jakarta city administration has been unable to control the street vendors. The street vendors frequently ignore the administration'€™s efforts to tidy up the city'€™s streets '€” such as clearing sidewalks and roadsides of unofficial businesses '€” as they claim that they have paid a lot of money to the thugs as '€œsecurity fees'€.

Therefore, the move by the city administration to crack down on the thugs in Tanah Abang market, Central Jakarta, deserves the support of the public, who have high hopes that the operation in Tanah Abang can be a starting point for the city to eliminate thuggery. '€œThe Tanah Abang market and its surrounding areas have to be freed from the thugs if we want to ease the traffic flow there,'€ Governor Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo was quoted as saying on Tuesday.

The governor is right. But eliminating illegal practices that have taken place over a long time certainly needs endless effort and consistency. The Jakarta Police have conducted similar operations several times in the past, but to no avail because it was the police themselves who '€œlet'€ the thugs operate again only a matter of days after the raids against them were conducted.

Therefore, the city administration'€™s effort to eliminate thuggery in Tanah Abang should be a success this time. Raids should be carried out consistently and regularly to make sure that the thugs do not reappear. Success in Tanah Abang will pave the way for the administration to carry out similar operations at other places.

The operation is important because thugs are also behind other businesses that often cause problems to people in general. Many thugs '€œback up'€ illegal on-street parking that have the same bad impact as street vendors: forcing pedestrians to take risks by walking along the roads, quite apart from increasing traffic congestion. Therefore, success in ending thuggery in the city would at least give the city administration the liberty to control street vendors and illegal on-street parking, which are important elements in the effort to restore public order and ease traffic congestion.

In the long run, the city may need to eliminate street vending, which is illegal under the city bylaws on public order. But it would be irresponsible to end such businesses, which currently employ a large number of people, without offering solutions to the vendors.

Therefore, while the relevant agencies are looking for ways to phase out such businesses, the city administration should ensure that the ongoing street vending and on-street parking activities will not seriously disrupt public order. They should no longer be allowed to occupy the whole or a large part of sidewalks or disregard the rights of pedestrians to pass in safety.