Special sites for vendors planned<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A City Council commission called on all five
\nmayoralty offices on Thursday to open special sites for vendors
\nwho now occupy many of Jakarta's busy streets to the point of
\ndisrupting the flow of traffic.<\/p>\n
Commission B on Economic Affairs said something must be done
\nto contain the swelling number of street vendors. While they
\nprovide valuable economic services, especially during the
\neconomic crisis, their presence must also be regulated, it said.<\/p>\n
The proposal was conveyed by commission chairman Syarief
\nZulkarnaen during a meeting with the head of the City's Economic
\nBureau, Dameria Saragih, to discuss solutions for street vendors.<\/p>\n
\"The administration has failed to come up with a proper
\napproach to solve the problem. They have become uncontrollable,
\noccupying the streets, parking lots and sidewalks,\" Syarief said.<\/p>\n
He warned of dire social problems unless a solution was
\nquickly found, noting that the administration currently has the
\ncapacity to foster only 20,000 small vendors.<\/p>\n
Improper treatment by City Public Order officials have further
\naggravated the traders, he said.<\/p>\n
The commission lauded the Central Jakarta Mayoralty for its
\nplan to provide a huge space for small traders in the new four-
\nstory Senen bus terminal when it is completed in January.<\/p>\n
It said that this could be a model for other mayoralties.<\/p>\n
Syarief said money should not have been a major problem since
\nthe administration had ran a Rp 879 billion (US$92.5 million)
\nsurplus in the 1999\/2000 budget which ended on March 31.<\/p>\n
Council deputy chairman Muhammad Suwardi stressed the need for
\na humane approach to the problem of street vendors, recalling the
\nwarnings by some traders of violent resistance if the
\nadministration tried to remove them by force.<\/p>\n
Dameria said PD Pasar Jaya, the city agency which manages 151
\nmarkets, have been ordered to accommodate street vendors in their
\nrespective locations.<\/p>\n
But she said street vendors preferred to conduct their
\nbusinesses in the open, such as on streets and sidewalks.<\/p>\n
Damaria said the administration would look into the
\ncommission's proposal to set up special locations for street
\nvendors. (06)<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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