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Walkers high on reclaimed streets as ex-Pasar Senen newcomers tread softly at new homes
Dedi 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
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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The ragtag panorama of street vendors and parked cars in the Pasar Senen area have been replaced by the sight of dozens of Public Order Agency officers (Satpol PP), who have been stationed there to help Jakarta's pedestrians "reclaim" the infrastructure that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.
Road users are also enjoying the brand-new experience of the now congestion-free Jl. Stasiun Senen.
This includes Weda, a 52-year-old Grab driver who regularly picks up passengers around Pasar Senen, who says that it now takes him less than a minute to U-turn on the road — a stark contrast to the eight minutes it used to take when the road was congested.
Meanwhile at Pasar Baru Metro Atom, tenanted merchants also selling secondhand clothes generally welcomed the street vendors from Pasar Senen. However, they raised concerns that the temporary rent waiver given to the former street vendors could potentially ruin the informal ceiling of price set for their secondhand clothes agreed among the existing merchants.
Santi, a 44-year-old merchant of secondhand clothes who has been trading at Pasar Baru Metro Atom since 2016, said that as long as the street vendors followed the ceiling, everything could go well for both old-timers and newcomers.
“However, if the newcomers were to disregard the ceiling of proce, the existing merchants here could end up protesting,” she said.
On the other hand, the ex-Pasar Senen street vendors voiced their fears about competing with the merchants at their new places of business. They were also afraid they might not be able to meet the rent once the six-month waiver ended.
Ayu Napitupulu Marlina is a 44-year-old former street vendor who was relocated on Dec. 27, 2018 to Pasar Baru Metro Atom. Ayu said that she initially had to alternate between trading at Metro Atom and on the sidewalk outside amid the fierce competition among the market's merchants.
She said she only paid about Rp 20,000 per month for maintenance and security to trade on the sidewalk. (hpw)
