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Walkers high on reclaimed streets as Pasar Senen street vendors move to new homes
While Jakarta's pedestrians and road users are starting to enjoy traveling freely around Pasar Senen Jaya, street vendors relocated from the area are adjusting to their new places of business – as are the tenanted merchants in welcoming the newcomers.
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Recycled fashion: Shoppers browse secondhand clothes at Pasar Senen Jaya in Central Jakarta in this file photo. This sight has become part of the area's history since Monday, when the market's street vendors were relocated to two other Central Jakarta markets: Pasar Kenari in Senen and Pasar Baru Metro Atom in Sawah Besar. (JP/P.J. Leo)
D
edi Wahyudin, a 22-year-old nurse who works at the puskesmas (community health center) in Kemayoran, was enjoying his unimpeded journey on Tuesday along the sidewalks of Pasar Senen Jaya in Central Jakarta.
The street vendors that still occupied the sidewalks and spilled into half of the road in front of the market just a few days ago were nowhere to be seen – nor were the vehicles parked helter-skelter that had caused the infamously hellish congestion in the area.
Pasar Senen's street vendors, who mainly sold secondhand clothes from 2 p.m. to midnight, were relocated on Monday to new facilities at two alternative markets in Central Jakarta: Pasar Kenari in Senen subdistrict and Pasar Baru Metro Atom in Sawah Besar subdistrict.
As part of the relocation program, the vendors received a six-month waiver on monthly rent and maintenance fees totaling over Rp 500,000 (US$35), said Senen deputy subdistrict head Zahrul Wildan.
The ragtag panorama of street vendors and parked cars in the Pasar Senen area have been replaced by the sight of dozens of Public Order Agency officers (Satpol PP), who have been stationed there to assist Jakarta's pedestrians "reclaim" the infrastructure that was originally built for their use.
Zahrul said that the Satpol PP would remain on duty at the sidewalks for several days to ensure that no street vendor returned.
The newly cleared sidewalks mean that pedestrians like Dedi can walk at ease from Senen Station to Pasar Senen Jaya, and then relax as he waits for a ride-hailing ojek (motorcycle taxi) to pick him up there to Puskesmas Kemayoran.
