Bandung wages war against roadside vendors<\/p>\n
Yuli Tri Suwarni
\nThe Jakarta Post
\nBandung<\/p>\n
Bandung municipality in West Java has started to clamp down on
\nroadside vendors for their contribution to the city's traffic
\nwoes.<\/p>\n
Mayor Aa Tarmana initiated an operation against roadside
\nvendors on the eve of Lebaran last Saturday targeted at vendors
\nwho had set up business in the city square.<\/p>\n
Some 600 officers from Bandung's Public Order Office
\ndemolished the makeshift kiosks and tents they found and
\ntransported all the vendors' belongings to the municipal office.
\nNo resistance was encountered during the first day of the
\noperation.<\/p>\n
But several vendors said that the operation was inhumane.
\nSome of them tried to confront the mayor, merely asking for time
\nto seek another place to do business.<\/p>\n
Aa vowed to continue raids on the street vendors, at least
\nwithin the month of December. "We just want Bandung to be free
\nfrom roadside vendors. We're fed up with people accusing us of
\nbeing incapable of handling public order," said Aa.<\/p>\n
A large number of Bandung citizens have complained about
\nroadside vendors, locally known as pedagang kaki lima, blocking
\nthe roads and causing traffic congestion.<\/p>\n
Roadside vendors have occupied several strategic spots in the
\ncity; around the city square, Jl. Asia Afrika, Jl. Dalem Kaum,
\nJl. Karapitan, Jl. Dewi Sartika and part of Jl. Otto Iskandar
\nDinata (from Pasar Baru to Tegallega). Jl. Sudirman and Jl.
\nMerdeka are also their business spots.<\/p>\n
Mayor Aa has also instructed his subordinates to stop imposing
\nlevies on roadside vendors. "All official and unofficial levies
\nmust be stopped from now on," said Aa, referring to illegal fees
\nimposed by certain unscrupulous law and order officials on the
\nvendors.<\/p>\n
Separately, Buyung, who opened his kiosk right in front of the
\nmunicipal building said that he paid Rp 300,000 per month to the
\ncoordinator of roadside vendors around the city square.<\/p>\n
Buyung, who sold women's underwear, said he had no idea
\nwhether or not the levy was legal. "But the amount of money was
\nsaid to be, among other things, for security," said Buyung, who
\ncame from West Sumatra.<\/p>\n
He didn't look perturbed when the officers approached him and
\nordered him to leave. "We've experienced this. We'll be back some
\nday. The municipality needs money from us, doesn't it."<\/p>\n
Maman Suparman, assistant to the Bandung mayor on public
\nadministration, said that around 900,000 out of 2.3 million
\nresidents of Bandung were migrants. "Most of them work in the
\ninformal sector, and tens of thousands of them are roadside
\nvendors," Maman said.<\/p>\n
The municipal secretary, Dada Rosada, said that the
\nadministration had earlier allowed locals to work as roadside
\nvendors due to the country's economic crisis.<\/p>\n
"The municipality has been too tolerant and ignored law
\nenforcement. Illegal roadside vendors are, actually, subject to
\nBylaw No. 6\/1995 on city cleanliness and order. Those violating
\nthe law will get three-months imprisonment or pay a Rp 5,000
\nfine," Dada said. "The result is that many migrants have
\nbenefited from the municipality's leniency."<\/p>\n
Mayor Aa's action was believed to be part of the
\nimplementation of Java governors' agreement to give priority to
\npeople from their own provinces when filling job vacancies,
\nincluding in the informal sector, in their effort to curb
\nmigration to major cities such as Jakarta, Bandung, Semarang,
\nSurabaya and Yogyakarta.<\/p>\n
Budi Radjab, a sociologist of the Bandung-based Padjadjaran
\nUniversity, criticized the mayor's action, saying that things
\nwere too late. "Roadside vendors have been a problem for the past
\nfive years. But the administration turned a deaf ear to
\ncomplaints as it benefited from levies collected from vendors."<\/p>\n
The city market office records indicate that the municipality
\nenjoys at least Rp 3 billion per annum in levies collected from
\nroadside vendors.<\/p>\n
Budi said he was worried that the municipality's aggressive
\naction could trigger unrest. "And I am skeptical that the
\nadministration will be successful in this matter. Usually the
\nvendors return after such an operation."<\/p>",
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