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Tanah Abang street vendors subject to illegal fees: Ombudsman
The gang members reportedly charged each vendor Rp 50,000 (US$3.52) rent daily.
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A street vendor working near the Tanah Abang Skybridge sells his wares on a sidewalk along Jl. Jati Baru Raya in Central Jakarta. (The Jakarta Post/P.J. Leo)
T
he Jakarta Ombudsman has found that street vendors operating on the sidewalks of Jl. Jatibaru Raya in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta, have been paying illegal fees to local gang members, also known as preman.
Ombudsman Jakarta head Teguh Nugroho said the gang members reportedly charged each vendor Rp 50,000 (US$3.52) rent daily.
“The gang members are organized into smaller groups and they all report to one big boss,” Teguh said on Friday, tempo.co reported.
He said the gang members may have been involved in the clash between street vendors and Public Order Agency (Satpol PP) officers last Thursday.
“These gang members felt they had lost their earnings since the sky bridge opened,” Teguh said.
The gang members then invited new street vendors to operate under the sky bridge and charged them rent.
He said the Jakarta Ombudsman had found 650 street vendors on Jl. Jatibaru Raya that were eligible to be relocated to the sky bridge. Some 446 had been relocated to the sky bridge while the remaining 204 would be relocated to Block F market.
However, not all those that were supposed to be relocated to Block F agreed to do so and returned to the streets. “Only 50 vendors were relocated to Block F,” Teguh added.
Separately, Cooperatives, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Trade Agency head Adi Ariantara said the agency could not accommodate the demands of street vendors that insisted on operating on the streets.
He said that street vendors needed to be disciplined so vendors inside the market buildings would receive customers. (ami)
