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Jakarta Post

Revamped food court expected to help Blok G

Despite criticism regarding the lack of customers in the Blok G building in Tanah Abang, where hundreds of street vendors were relocated to, Governor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo still has high hopes

Sita W. Dewi (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Tue, April 15, 2014

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Revamped food court expected to help Blok G

D

espite criticism regarding the lack of customers in the Blok G building in Tanah Abang, where hundreds of street vendors were relocated to, Governor Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo still has high hopes.

On Monday he visited Blok G to inaugurate the newly expanded food court on the upper ground floor and to inspect the construction of escalators in the building. The new facilities are expected to attract visitors and help boost the vendors'€™ sales.

'€œWe are building escalators and a bridge connecting Blok F and Blok G. The construction work will be completed in three months. In the future, Blok G will become the prime location as it will be connected to Tanah Abang railway station and Blok F and will have escalators,'€ Jokowi said.

He also encouraged vendors to maintain cleanliness to ensure a pleasant environment for visitors.

'€œA year and half ago this place was dirty and smelly. Even though the food looked good, I was reluctant to eat it because the place was unpleasant. I call on you to keep this place clean,'€ he added.

Jokowi also distributed aprons to food vendors and encouraged them to wear them while working.

City-owned market operator PD Pasar Jaya president director Djangga Lubis pointed out that the six-month rent free period had been extended by another six months to ease the vendors'€™ burden.

'€œWe will also announce the winner of the car sometime soon,'€ he said, referring to the grand door prize organized to lure visitors.

The renovation of the 1,030-square-meter food court, which accommodates 103 vendors, spent Rp 1.2 billion (US$104,918) and was funded by Bank Indonesia and several state-owned and private banks in a corporate social responsibility (CSR) program.

Many vendors, who previously occupied streets in Tanah Abang, have complained about slow business in Blok G.

Nurhayati, a children'€™s clothing vendor, admitted that her daily income has declined since relocating to the building. '€œI usually earned up to Rp 2 million a day but now I can only earn Rp 500,000 a day. People are probably too lazy to go upstairs,'€ she told The Jakarta Post.

Nurhayati, however, said that she did not intend to leave her kiosk.

'€œAt the moment, I don'€™t have a better option so all I can do is stay and hope that business will pick up,'€ she said.

Tasyah, a juice vendor who has been in Blok G for a week, said that she was optimistic that the number of visitors would increase soon.

'€œWith new facilities, the number of visitors will grow. The place is very strategic too, so in the long term those who leave their kiosks will certainly regret it,'€ she said.

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