T

he Jakarta administration has planned to build an integrated low-cost apartment on the Kebon Melati market, also known as Inpres market, in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta, which recently caught fire.

Jakarta Governor Basuki '€œAhok'€ Tjahaja Purnama said at City Hall recently that the city administration planned and would design the market into an integrated building that would combine a market, public facilities and Rusunawa (low-cost rental apartments).

'€œBased on our experience, if the traditional market is made on the third and fourth floor, the market will not be as lucrative as people are reluctant to explore higher floors,'€ he said.

He added that if the design was like a shopping mall or a super block. '€œWe can accommodate more street vendors in this building,'€ he said.

Ahok said the apartment would be used for surrounding residents and other people. '€œGenerally, we want the vendors in the market to live upstairs, so they do not have to live faraway,'€ he said.

The Kebon Melati market on Jl. Sabeni, mostly selling vegetables and groceries, was razed by a fire on Oct. 11 in the morning. No casualties were reported from the incident. The police were still investigating the cause of the fire but the vendors assumed that it was from an electricity short circuit at a kiosk.

City-owned market operator PD Pasar Jaya spokesman Agus Lamun said that 136 out of 403 existing kiosks were affected by the fire.

'€œWe have around 350 vendors there. They will temporarily be relocated to a nearby market, including Blok A market in Tanah Abang,'€ he said. Agus said the company would also provide a temporary market for those who did not get any place.

Agus said his company had planned to turn some 11 other traditional markets into an integrated function that would include Rusunawa.

'€œWe have proposed the fund through the government investment participation [PMP] scheme in the 2016 budget draft,'€ he said, refusing to reveal the amount of the fund.

Agus said the design of the apartment also had not been finalized yet. '€œBasically, the two first floors will be used as a market while the others will be apartment units,'€ he said.

The integrated low-cost apartment is an old idea, one of the campaign programs of then governor Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo and Ahok. However, the execution is tardy.

Agus said the other market that would be altered into integrated low-cost rental apartments included Serdang Market and Cempaka Putih Market in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta.

Serdang Market is now in dire condition. Many parts of the buildings, like the roofs and walls, are broken while the number of the vendors keeps growing, according to beritajakarta.com.

Pasar Jaya also is also revitalizing many traditional markets in Jakarta. However, many of the markets show slower business activities after revitalization.