F

ormer vendors who were evicted from 16 train stations across Greater Jakarta last year have sent a subpoena to state-owned train operator PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI), demanding the firm pay Rp 105 billion (US$9.27 million) in compensation and allow them to return to the stations.

Muhammad Isnur, lawyer for the 6,000 vendors and their staff, who are grouped under the Union of Greater Jakarta Train Station Vendors (Perpustabek), said during a press conference on Thursday that the union objected to the actions of KAI, which unilaterally destroyed the vendors'€™ kiosks and evicted them from the stations.

'€œTherefore, we will send the subpoena [...] to ask the firm to take responsibility for its actions as its deeds have impoverished thousands,'€ he said, adding that the evictions had caused losses of at least Rp 20 million for each vendor.

Isnur, from the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH), said the evictions had negative impacts on the vendors as most of them lost their jobs and some of their children could not continue their studies.

'€œMost of the vendors legally occupied the spaces and they paid rent, even at high prices, for the kiosks. However, KAI did not think about [the vendors'€™] lives and just evicted them as if they were illegal,'€ he said.

'€œThe most heartbreaking fact is the firm evicted small vendors but let big vendors like convenience stores continue running at the stations,'€ he said, adding that the action was a form of discrimination.

In an attempt to fulfill its target of 1.2 million passengers in 2018, KAI revamped its services last year, including removing all vendors from stations in Greater Jakarta, to widen areas for passengers as well as provide more parking space.

Isnur said KAI did not have any right to evict the vendors. According to him, if the firm wanted to destroy the buildings, it should have acquired a court verdict or decision from the local administration.

'€œIf KAI does not fulfill our demands, we will file a class-action lawsuit with the court,'€ he said, adding that the union had adequate evidence to show that the vendors rightfully occupied their spaces.

A former vendor from Duri Station in West Jakarta, 40-year-old Hamza, said he bought his 4-meter-square kiosk at the station for Rp 25 million in 2003.

'€œThe transaction was acknowledged by the station head. I and 176 other vendors also paid regular operational fees to the station,'€ he said.

Johannes Hutasoit, coordinator of vendors at Kranji Station in Bekasi, West Java, said he was aware that vendors must willingly move if KAI wanted to use the land, as stated in the rental contract.

'€œHowever, they should have discussed the matter with us first to find a solution. We cannot just move if we have been doing business there for years,'€ he said.

KAI Operations Region (Daop) I Greater Jakarta spokesman, Agus Komarudin, said that the firm had followed the right procedures and regulations for evicting the vendors.

'€œWe have ended all contracts with the vendors, so we have the right to reuse the land,'€ he said, adding that the space was used for parking and passenger mobility.

Agus said KAI did not evict bigger stores because their contracts were still ongoing. '€œWe know some stations like Jakarta Kota in West Jakarta have many stores but that station has a different class and capacity,'€ he said.

Agus said the firm would assess demand and capacity to judge whether stations needed stores or not, but added it did not have any plans to bring the vendors back.