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one are the days when Nur Hasanah had to look out for Ancol’s security staff, always ready to quickly hide her instant noodle cups, instant drink sachets and thermos of hot water, lest she and other street vendors would be caught in regular patrols by Taman Impian Jaya Ancol’s management.

Now wearing an orange and white uniform and holding an access card, Nur can set up her booth at one corner of Ancol Beach Pool, offering hot drinks and instant noodles to passersby without the fear of raids.

“We are no longer chased by the patrol. We can safely sell now,” Nur told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

Nur is one of several street vendors inside the Ancol Dreamland Park in North Jakarta. The area’s management in the past did not allow them to operate inside the park.

She began her trade inside Ancol in 2002, selling bundles of snacks at Rp 10,000 (70 US cent) a piece. Each package contained around four kinds of snacks by the same producer. She would receive a commission of Rp 2,000 per package sold.

Then she decided to be an independent street vendor in 2016.

Her income improved, as she could take home Rp 20,000 to Rp 30,000 on slow days and a whopping Rp 450,000 — Rp 500,000 daily in the peak season.

However, she had to be on the lookout for patrols, which used to occur at least twice a day.

Since last Friday, Nur and her fellow 52 members of the Ancol Street Vendors’ Community (KOPEKA) no longer have to worry about patrols, as they received the orange and white uniforms from Koperasi Sejahtera Makmur Mandiri, a cooperative of Ancol street vendors, and keycards to enter Ancol freely.

Their dream of operating peacefully inside one of Jakarta’s main touristic attractions came true after the street vendors organized themselves and established

KOPEKA in 2014 with the help of the Jakarta Urban Poor Network (JRMK).

In 2017, KOPEKA, along with the JRMK, Jakarta Pedicab Driver Union (Sebaja) and residents of 16 kampungs signed what they called a political contract with then-gubernatorial candidate Anies Baswedan to vote for him in the gubernatorial election, if he would advance their cause.

“One of our demands was for the street vendors to be allowed to operate inside Ancol, as previously Ancol management considered them illegal. Only vendors with a booth were allowed to operate, even though [the street vendors] served different segments [and could not be contained in booths],” Gugun Muhammad of JRMK told the Post.

Since then, the JRMK has helped set up meetings between KOPEKA and Ancol management and the Jakarta Administration to voice their concerns.

After several meetings between the city administration, JRMK, KOPEKA and Ancol management, Ancol agreed to let members of KOPEKA operate, and it gave them uniforms and access cards, which also made them members of the Sejahtera Makmur Mandiri Cooperative.

However, KOPEKA deputy head Donris Sianturi said the street vendors wanted to be independent from the Ancol management.

“What we want is to make our own cooperative outside the resellers’ organization [Sejahtera Makmur Mandiri Cooperative],” Donris said, so that KOPEKA members would be able to procure their wares independently.

Ancol Dreamland Park spokeswoman Rika Lestari declined to comment when the Post reached out to her on Sunday.

Street vendors that are not members of KOPEKA may also do business in the park, as long as they are members of the Ancol cooperative and dress properly with the uniform and shoes, such as 37-year-old Sugi, who has been selling accessories like sunglasses and watches inside Ancol for 11 years.

“That’s the agreement between the cooperatives. We can go outside [the booth to sell] but we have to be disciplined, such as wearing our uniforms and shoes,” he said.

He said he had been given a booth at one of Ancol’s parking lots in 2014, but business there was not good, so he returned to selling his wares at the street, risking getting caught in Ancol security patrols, before eventually joining the cooperative around seven months ago.

Meanwhile, visitors to Ancol seemed not to mind the street vendors, with some occasionally buying things from them.

Teguh Yulianto, 35, went to Ancol Beach with his two sons and wife on Sunday, and he bought a cup of instant coffee from one of the street vendors.

“I’m okay with the vendors being around. They don’t bother us, and the prices they ask are low,” he said.