T

he city administration has repeatedly claimed that the Tanah Abang Skybridge would solve pressing issues around the noted textile market in Central Jakarta, serving as an answer to managing street vendors and traffic in the area.

However, despite the completion of the Skybridge and its opening for business, street vendors continue to occupy the sidewalks along Jl. Jatibaru Raya.

Local resident Warsinah, 46, is one such vendor. Selling instant drinks and snacks on a corner of Jl. Jatibaru Raya, she operates her stall in the mornings until 8 p.m. She initially hoped to be allocated a kiosk on the Skybridge after registering with the Tanah Abang district office when construction was under way. “I registered for one but no response came. I didn’t get a booth so I remained here,” Warsinah told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

Having worked as a street vendor since 1991, Warsinah has relocated several times to find a location that was unlikely to be raided by Public Order Agency (Satpol PP) officers, before eventually finding a fixed spot in 2001 in front of a staple food warehouse near the market.

Like many street vendors in the area, Warsinah was given the right to use a kiosk rent-free for six months at Tanah Abang Market’s Blok G, which opened in 2012 as a hawker center to house street vendors.

“For two years it was crowded, but it became deserted in the following years,” Warsinah said.

Another vendor, 50-year-old Palmerah resident Fitriani who sells children’s clothes and headscarves on the Jl. Kebun Jati sidewalk directly across from Blok G, has set up a “ready-to-go” wares stand in case a raid is conducted.

Like other street vendors, she too has to watch her wares in case she gets caught in a raid, the staging of which has been increasing in frequency since the Skybridge opened for business. She said that like many others, she too has been given access to a rent-free kiosk in Blok G, but she left because of the lack of customers and relocated in front of an electronics store.

“It’s crowded on the sidewalks, unlike inside. If was crowded inside I probably would have stayed, but it’s not,” she said.

The 400-meter-long Skybridge spans Jl. Jatibaru Raya, which connects Tanah Abang Station to the busy textile market. Not all vendors on the streets surrounding the market secured a kiosk on the Skybridge as there is room for only 446 vendors.

The remaining vendors opted to stay on the sidewalks and offer their merchandise to passersby. However, the city administration did not want the disorderliness to continue and Satpol PP officers conducted a raid on Thursday to clear the area of vendors.

The street vendors, however, stood their ground, which resulted in a clash between vendors and Satpol PP officers. In a recording that went viral on Thursday, vendors could be seen throwing rocks and sticks at the officers.

The clash ended after police officers stepped in and fired warning shots to disperse the crowd.

The Jakarta Police have questioned seven people as witnesses to the clash.

Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan claimed that the raid was conducted to restore order in the area.

“We want to keep things orderly. I will continue to monitor things,” he said on Thursday, adding that the administration would let the police handle the legal process regarding the clash.

Anies further said that Satpol PP officers were often reprimanded when doing their jobs.

“Who got mad? The violators. They are often more temperamental than the officers raiding them,” he added.

Anies said the number of kiosks on the Skybridge had been based on an agreement among all relevant parties.

Donni Simanihuruk, an official at city-owned market operator PD Sarana Jaya tasked with overseeing the Skybridge, said the vendors occupying the structure had been selected by the Jakarta Small and Medium Enterprises and Cooperatives Agency. Of the 600 applicants, 446 were chosen to occupy a kiosk.

Vendors who were not selected to occupy a kiosk were to be provided space in Tanah Abang Market’s Blok F and Blok G.