The result of the city administration’s efforts to manage the famed Kota Tua (Old Town) area in West Jakarta might not have pleased everyone.

Hailed by the city administration as one of its prime tourist destinations, Kota Tua has been given support in the past to attract more visitors. The city administration and Kota Tua Management Unit have held events to manage the area in a bid to promote the heritage site.

Their efforts included cleaning the area that housed several historical landmarks as well as arranging street vendors and street artists in the surrounding areas of Fatahillah square, the central area of Kota Tua.

However, not everyone is pleased with the current neat appearance. Some have criticized the city’s efforts, saying that providing more convenient places for visitors was paid for at the expense of street vendors and street performers, who were considered an integral part of enlivening the historic site.

Photography enthusiast Andre Kansil said he missed the old Kota Tua with many vendors and street performers and that the city’s efforts to improve Kota Tua made the area less interesting.

“When I used to frequent Kota Tua, I saw a lot of street performers and street vendors. I could take so many pictures of all the liveliness, but now I don’t know what to do there,” he said.

On the other hand, Dian Ekasari lauded the absence of vendors and street beggars, who previously occupied Fatahillah Square.

Saying she was hesitant at first, when her husband asked her to go to Kota Tua, but now she expressed positive feedback about the new Kota Tua.

“The place used to be packed during the weekend, especially on Saturday night, you could barely move from one place to another,” Dian said.

Another visitor, Wibisono, 35, from Bekasi, West Java, also noticed improvement in Kota Tua, such as less trash on the streets and better vehicle parking.

“It was time the city administration gave serious attention to Kota Tua. The recent improvements will surely change opinions of Kota Tua as being a dirty tourism spot,” he said.

For years, the city administration and Kota Tua Management Unit had been criticized for their failure to control street vendors and street performers in the area. Despite the measures that had been taken, such as deploying Jakarta Public Order Agency (Satpol PP) officials, the vendors still sought to open their businesses near the square.

In order to curb what they called illegal vendors, the city administration relocated 415 registered street vendors to Jl. Cengkeh, a nearby quiet open field in the last five months while also prohibiting hundreds of unregistered vendors from entering the area.

The management also relocated dozens of street performers from Fatahillah Square to the Kota Tua entrance area as part of the city’s project to revive the heritage site and create a tidier tourist attraction.

Norviadi Setio Husodo, head of Kota Tua Management Unit, said to make sure that Kota Tua maintains its educational element, the unit made restrictions on street performers. Only those who acted as national heroes, historical statues or wore traditional Indonesian clothes were allowed to perform in the area.

“Previously there were people acting as ghosts and superheroes along with puppet costumers, which did not carry any historical or educational value,” he said.

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