Councillors irk vendors for breaking promise<\/p>\n
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
A meeting between street vendors working on Jl. Fachrudin and Jl.
\nWahid Hasyim in Central Jakarta and the City Council's Commission
\nB on budgetary affairs, ended up in a quarrel on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Sulaiman Lubis, the coordinator of at least 20 representatives
\nof the vendors, banged his fist on the meeting room table
\nrepeatedly and started cursing the councillors for preventing
\nthem from sitting on the same negotiation table with Central
\nJakarta Mayor Muhayat.<\/p>\n
\"The councillors are all liars. This meeting is simply a waste
\nof time. Why are the councillors preventing us from meeting the
\nmayor?\" said Sulaiman at the top of his voice, while refusing to
\nsit down.<\/p>\n
The commission had met with Central Jakarta Mayor Muhayat
\nearlier in the day to discuss the fate of the vendors following
\nthe administration's decision to rid Jl. Fachrudin and Jl. Wahid
\nHasyim of street vendors effective April 10.<\/p>\n
Commission chairman Abdul Mutholib Shihab of the Democratic
\nParty faction tried to calm the vendors to no avail.<\/p>\n
\"We did not bring together the mayor and vendors at the same
\ntable since we didn't want them to be caught in bickering, which
\nmight in turn obstruct efforts to seek the best solution to the
\nproblem,\" said councillor Nurmansyah Lubis of the Prosperous
\nJustice Party faction.<\/p>\n
The quarrel ended after the vendors walked out of the meeting
\nroom dissatisfied with the councillors' excuses.<\/p>\n
\"We are disappointed with the councillors who promised to
\narrange a meeting with the mayor,\" said another vendor, Afrizal.<\/p>\n
\"We will seek support from the House of Representatives
\ninstead of the city councillors,\" he said, adding that the
\nvendors also opposed options proposed by Central Jakarta Mayor
\nMuhayat.<\/p>\n
In the earlier meeting, Muhayat had proposed three options.<\/p>\n
\"They have to stop their business there altogether or they can
\nrun their business based on certain hours to be decided later by
\nthe administration or they have to move to another area.\"<\/p>\n
Muhayat added that the administration had decided to clear the
\nroads of street vendors whose stalls encroach on the sides of the
\nroad and cause chronic traffic jams.<\/p>\n
The Central Jakarta municipality hosts most embassies, offices
\nof multinational companies and government offices.<\/p>\n
The administration also removed vendors who were occupying the
\nsidewalks and roadside of Jl. Salemba and Jl. Kramat last month
\nas part of efforts to clean up the city.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/councillors-irk-vendors-for-breaking-promise-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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