Poor relocation plan drives vendors to misery<\/p>\n
M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Unlike in the bustling street nearby, the business of Junedi, 40,
\nnot his real name, is stagnant at Rawa Buaya market in
\nCengkareng, West Jakarta, a new location provided by the city
\nadministration for street vendors who formerly occupied the
\nnearby roadsides.<\/p>\n
Ever since being relocated to the market from the sides of the
\nWest Outer Ringroad, he and other fellow vendors have not only
\nbeen unable to make a profit, but have to face the prospect of
\nbankruptcy as fewer and fewer buyers turn up.<\/p>\n
\"There hasn't been a single buyer in the last 20 days,\"
\nJunedi, a vendor selling motorcycle used spare parts, said last
\nweekend.<\/p>\n
He said that the last time he made a transaction, he had to
\nsell an engine part at less than market value merely to generate
\nsome cash.<\/p>\n
\"I'm staying here simply to sell my remaining stock; once it's
\nbeen sold I can start a whole new business somewhere else,\" said
\nJunedi, adding that most of the vendors there had closed their
\nstalls and were running other businesses elsewhere.<\/p>\n
The new market for street vendors, only about 500 meters away
\nfrom the West Outer Ringroad, was opened in June 2002. The market
\ncan host over 600 vendors, but now only 50 remain, mostly selling
\nused goods.<\/p>\n
The city administration reportedly planned to widen the road
\nformerly used by the vendors. But more than eight months after
\ntheir eviction, there are no signs of construction activity.<\/p>\n
Gani, 35, also not his real name, told The Jakarta Post that,
\nalthough the current location was not very far from the previous
\none, it was isolated from the bustling area: So isolated that
\nCengkareng residents themselves did not know where it was.<\/p>\n
\"There is only one bridge connecting the market with the
\nbustling street nearby,\" he said, adding that vehicles were
\nbarred from crossing it as it was designed only for pedestrians.<\/p>\n
It would be better, Gani suggested, if motorcycles and public
\nminivans were provided with access to the market so that all
\ntheir passengers could reach the vendors easily.<\/p>\n
\"There seems to be an unwillingness on the part of the city
\nadministration to boost trading activities here. It apparently
\ndid not have any plans in the first place. It simply evicted us,
\ndumped us here and did not care afterwards,\" moaned Gani.<\/p>\n
Most of the vendors there also resented the fact that in spite
\nof the lack of customers, officials were around, with
\nauthorization from the city administration, to charge visitors to
\npark there.<\/p>\n
\"To attract buyers the city administration should exempt
\nvisitors from paying any unnecessary charges, as it has done at
\nother shopping complexes in this area,\" Gani said.<\/p>\n
Gani added that at first the new location looked promising,
\nbut it turned out to be a wasteland for doing any lucrative
\nbusiness.<\/p>\n
\"I've lost around Rp 30 million (US$3300) since I started
\ndoing business here, and I'm ready to close my shop in the near
\nfuture,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He added that because of the constant losses vendors had to
\nsuffer, some married couples had split up.<\/p>\n
\"Some of our children have also had to quit school, because we
\ncannot pay their school fees anymore,\" Gani said.<\/p>\n
The city administration, however, denied vendors' allegations
\nthat it had relocated them to an inappropriate location.<\/p>\n
City spokesman Muhayat said that the administration had
\nrelocated the vendors to a strategic location, which was still in
\nthe same business district.<\/p>\n
\"We haven't moved them to an area isolated from visitors,\" he
\nremarked, adding that the administration had every intention to
\nenable them to flourish at the new market.<\/p>\n
He said that the relocation was aimed at building healthy
\nbusiness conditions, so that there would no longer be vendors
\nselling their goods on the road.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/poor-relocation-plan-drives-vendors-to-misery-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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