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Hawkers versus walkers: Street vendors remain Jakarta residents' favorite guilty pleasure
Street vendors need the sidewalks to operate for their living but could be a nuisance to pedestrians. The city administration is also currently looking for ways to accommodate vendors and pedestrians on sidewalks.
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Pedestrians walk on the sidewalk crammed by street vendors in the Kota Tua (Old Town) tourist area in West Jakarta on July 29. (JP/Wendra Ajistyatama)
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or many Jakarta residents, sprawling sidewalks may serve so many purposes. Not only are they actually special lanes for pedestrians to walk, sidewalks in the city have also been a place for some to seek their fortune by opening stalls.
For 37-year-old Nurdin, the sidewalk on Jl. Tentara Pelajar in South Jakarta right before the entrance to Palmerah railway station, is where he finds customers for his grilled otak-otak (fishcakes), which he sells from his bicycle.
“My customers are mainly passersby here,” Nurdin said.
He sells from 2 p.m. every day until 11 p.m. or when his stock runs out. He can get around Rp 200,000 (US$14.12) daily but over half of it must be given to his boss, who also provides him lodging.
Being a street vendor selling on the sidewalks means that Nurdin always has to look out and stay on the move, lest he and fellow street traders are raided by Public Order Agency (Satpol PP) personnel.
But after being driven away by the personnel in the morning, he would return to his spot in the evening knowing that there would be no one guarding the vicinity.
He said he had tried other kinds of business including in his hometown of Purwakarta, West Java. But Nurdin said selling the fishcakes near Palmerah Station was the one that he could earn the most with, as so many people passed by his bicycle.
