Jakarta still the best for less-privileged<\/p>\n
By Meidyatama Suryodiningrat<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): As Jakarta approaches its 267th birthday
\ntomorrow, the bustling city remains a magnet for those willing to
\nendure the cruel existence of laboring as petty traders and
\nstreet vendors.<\/p>\n
\"No matter how tough things get it's still the best place to
\nmake a living,\" Maman, a cigarette vendor working at a traffic
\nlight in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta, said to The Jakarta Post
\nyesterday.<\/p>\n
He revealed how he left his village near Cianjur, West Java,
\nnearly three years ago not long after he got married. Realizing
\nhis responsibility, Maman left his village to try his luck here.<\/p>\n
When asked why he didn't stay home, Maman said that there
\nwasn't much to do, let alone enough to support a family.<\/p>\n
\"Look, no matter how measly you think my job is I can support
\nmy family this way,\" retorted Maman, who is now the proud father
\nof two-young boys.<\/p>\n
Maman's words are a common refrain among the thousands of
\nstreet vendors in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
In their attempt to make a living the vendors erect human
\nobstacles which obstruct the flow of vehicles creating
\nbottlenecks and traffic jams.<\/p>\n
The Bureau for the Development of Regional Products puts the
\nnumber of street vendors in Jakarta at around 90,000. Other
\nsources have placed the figure as high as 450,000.<\/p>\n
On an intersection at Pasar Rumput market in Central Jakarta,
\na group of cigarette vendors told a similar story of how they
\nheaded for the metropolis, not to find fortune and fame, but a
\ndecent income to support their families back home.<\/p>\n
\"I knew what I'd end up doing when I got here, I'm not the
\nfirst to come here and sell cigarettes,\" said Pepen who hails
\nfrom Tasikmalaya, West Java.<\/p>\n
To prove his point he named many relatives peddling in close
\nproximity, including a female cousin who owns a food kiosk or
\nwarung Tegal, and a brother and brother-in-law also selling
\ncigarettes.<\/p>\n
Pepen said that he and his brothers along with four friends
\nfrom a nearby village rent a room together behind the market.<\/p>\n
On an average month they each make about Rp 80,000 ($37) from
\nselling cigarettes, bottled mineral water and an assortment of
\ncandies to passing motorists.<\/p>\n
\"Since we're all neighbors we take turns going home to take
\nthe money to our family,\" Pepen explained.<\/p>\n
When asked how long he would be peddling on the streets, Pepen
\nsaid he had only meant to do this for a couple of years but now
\nit has been over three so he really can't say.<\/p>\n
However he noted that if in a couple of years he can not save
\nenough, he will probably bring his family to Jakarta so his wife
\ncan help out at the market. \"I'd rather have my family with me
\nthan be poor alone.\"<\/p>\n
\"I never stop the passing cars or purposely slow them down to
\noffer cigarettes. There's usually red traffic light or a traffic
\njam somewhere up front,\" Maman said when asked whether his job
\ncaused the traffic to slow down.<\/p>\n
Traffic<\/p>\n
Meanwhile a vendor who sells socks and handkerchiefs near the
\nTanah Abang market admitted that by placing his wares on a mat at
\nthe street pavement, he was interfering with traffic.<\/p>\n
\"I'm just doing what everyone else is...besides if its illegal
\nwhy do they levy me every day?\" asked Syahril, who moved from
\nGunung Kidul, Central Java, only last January.<\/p>\n
Despite it being illegal, local market inspectors permit the
\nvendors to remain and extort money from them.<\/p>\n
Syahril accounts at least three different fees he has to pay
\ndaily - cleaning fee, security fee and a place\/location fee -
\nranging from Rp 500 (US23 cents) to Rp 1000.<\/p>\n
\"I do like the rest do so don't tell me that I have no right
\nhere when I have to pay just to stand here,\" he said
\ncontentiously.<\/p>\n
When told of Jakarta's anniversary on June 22, Syahril didn't
\nanswer simply throwing a sarcastic grin as if to say \"so what.\"<\/p>\n
Naniek Sutoyo, a housewife who was shopping in the vicinity,
\nsaid she didn't mind the presence of the street vendors.<\/p>\n
\"What I mind is having to walk on the streets so near to the
\nmoving cars because they (the vendors) take so much of the
\npavement,\" she said.<\/p>\n
When asked of her greatest concern in her daily life in the
\ncity of over 10 million, Naniek said it was the daily commute to
\nand from the market.<\/p>\n
According to her the problem is not the lack of transportation
\nbut the number of people competing to get on at certain times.<\/p>\n
Naniek explained that during the early morning and late
\nafternoon it is nearly impossible to get a bus because time
\neveryone is commuting to or from work and school.<\/p>\n
\"When it's past rush hour there's no problem. You can usually
\nfind a seat,\" Naniek explained.<\/p>\n
She further said that day or night in Jakarta you can find
\ntransportation, thus she believes that it is only at rush hour
\nthat public transportation is at a premium.<\/p>\n
\"Imagine getting into a jam-packed bus with four bags of
\ngroceries,\" Naniek said, who at the time only had one bag.<\/p>\n
Naniek admits she doesn't know what to do about the problems
\nof the traffic and the over-population saying only that its part
\nof life in Jakarta.<\/p>",
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