Pasar Minggu traders protest gate closure<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Small-scale traders at the Pasar Minggu
\nmarketplace protested yesterday at the authorities's decision to
\nclose the west entrance because they say it hurts business.<\/p>\n
Five persons representing 500 traders complained to the City
\nCouncil over the decision by PD Pasar Jaya, which manages the
\nmarket.<\/p>\n
The traders said turnover has plunged by as much as 50 percent
\nsince the western gate was closed recently, a move that left
\nshoppers with only one access -- through the front gate in the
\neast.<\/p>\n
\"Now shoppers rarely come to our kiosks because they are too
\nfar from the main entrance. Most people simply shop at kiosks in
\nthe front section,\" Jalaludin, the spokesman for the delegation,
\ntold the city council's Commission B, which is in charge of
\neconomic affairs.<\/p>\n
He used his own garment business to illustrate his point,
\nsaying that he now earns less than Rp 50,000 a day compared to Rp
\n100,000 before the closure.<\/p>\n
The west gate previously provided access chiefly for shoppers
\ngetting off of buses from Depok.<\/p>\n
\"Now, they have to go through the front gate and automatically
\nshop at the kiosks in that section because ours are too far from
\nthe main entrance,\" said Jalaludin, who has been trading in the
\narea since the 1960s.<\/p>\n
Jalaludin and his four colleagues said they were representing
\n500 traders located on the first floor of the Pasar Minggu
\nmarketplace. Most of them sell ready-to-wear clothes.<\/p>\n
They said that PD Pasar Jaya closed the western gate to stop
\nsidewalk vendors from overflowing into the market and to
\nencourage them to settle in the parking lot.<\/p>\n
Rather than close the gate altogether, \"We have asked PD Pasar
\nJaya to build an iron gate which provides access to one person at
\na time,\" Jalaludin added.<\/p>\n
PD Pasar Jaya had not responded to the proposal up to
\nyesterday, he said explaining the reason why they had turned to
\nthe City Council for help.<\/p>\n
\"We will go bankrupt if the gate remains closed because we
\nsimply cannot compete with the other stores which are closer to
\nthe main gate,\" Jalaludin said.<\/p>\n
With the upcoming shopping boom ahead of Idul Fitri just
\naround the corner, the traders have a strong reason to feel
\ndistressed by the closed gate policy.<\/p>\n
Jalaludin said the policy benefits mostly garment traders on
\nthe ground floor, who are their main competitors. \"We are afraid
\nthat we might be forced to close shop.\"<\/p>\n
Council member M. Chaniago promised that the commission will
\nraise the matter with PD Pasar Jaya. (yns)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/pasar-minggu-traders-protest-gate-closure-1447893297",
"image": ""
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