Employees in offices in Melawai, South Jakarta, need street vendors in the area so they can buy breakfast and lunch as some office buildings do not provide such facilities, Jakarta Deputy Governor Sandiaga Uno has claimed.

Some office buildings in Melawai, including that of state-owned electricity firm PLN, did not provide spaces for food vendors, so employees had difficulties finding affordable meals, he said.

Sandiaga said an employee who worked in a building in Melawai had visited him and said that the employees needed street vendors.

“The nearby residents support street vendors. Now, it’s our job to manage them [the street vendors],” Sandiaga said on Thursday.

Sandiaga said he had also questioned pedestrians about the presence of street vendors.

“I asked whether they were bothered by the street vendors. They answered that they also needed those street vendors,” Sandiaga added.

He acknowledged, however, that sidewalks were designated for pedestrians, “We will find a way to provide a little space for pedestrians [on the sidewalks].

The city administration has registered 75 street vendors in the area.

Those street vendors have been encouraged to join the One District One Centre entrepreneurship training program (OK OCE). (cal)