Street vendors vs administration: Partnership is crucial<\/p>\n
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Street vendors have become a unique phenomenon in this city.<\/p>\n
Not to mention ubiquitous. Just about everywhere you turn, you
\ncan see them displaying their wares: at intersections, along the
\nstreets, outside schools and office buildings, inside public
\ntransportation, and even on the yards of mosques.<\/p>\n
While their predecessors sold only mineral water and
\ncigarettes, a new generation of vendors has branched out,
\nhawking items as diverse as shoes, clothes, accessories, toys,
\ntoolkits, books and, occasionally, even weapons.<\/p>\n
Street vendors have become a very sensitive topic for
\ndiscussion at the moment.<\/p>\n
Moreover, although some people welcome their presence,
\nsympathetic with their daily struggle to eke out an existence,
\nothers see them as but a nuisance, blaming them for creating
\ntraffic jams around the city.<\/p>\n
In many ways, the first opinion makes sense. It is hard to
\nignore the contribution of the vendors to the city
\nadministration.<\/p>\n
The latest data from the Jakarta Social Institute (ISJ), in
\nfact, reveals that the informal sector has provided jobs for at
\nleast one million people here.<\/p>\n
Not a small number, especially in light of the ever-increasing
\nunemployment rate following the economic crisis which hit the
\ncountry in mid-1997.<\/p>\n
According to Scholar Arief Budiman of Melbourne University in
\nAustralia, the heavy presence of street vendors in Indonesia
\nsupported the country's economy during the crisis, as well.<\/p>\n
These jobs could reduce the crime rate in the city.<\/p>\n
We should also respect the vendors considering that, despite
\nthe rampant evictions against them, they could still contribute
\nbillions of rupiah in revenue to the city administration.<\/p>\n
ISJ recorded that, in 1999 alone, the vendors gave some Rp 27
\nbillion (US$ 2.7 million) in fees.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, this money has so far failed to yield any
\npositive effects from efforts that might allay negative impacts
\non the quality of life from the street vendors' presence.<\/p>\n
Disorganized vendors, undoubtedly, have been a part in traffic
\nsnarls everywhere in the city.<\/p>\n
Take a look at the vendors operating in Jl. Matraman Raya,
\nnear the Jatinegara market in East Jakarta; Jl. Ragunan Raya in
\nSouth Jakarta; Jl. Hayam Wuruk in West Jakarta and Jl. Fachrudin,
\nnearby Tanah Abang market in Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
These streets are known as welcome havens among vendors, while
\nat the same time, notorious traps among motorists for traffic
\ncongestion. There, the vendors occupy up to two-thirds of the
\nroads, blocking vehicles that pass through the streets.<\/p>\n
The administration seems helpless to manage the problem.
\nSeveral attempts have been made, without any positive results.<\/p>\n
This year, the authorities launched intensive crackdowns,
\naccusing the vendors of violating public order.<\/p>\n
Some evictions resulted in violence, claiming many lives. Last
\nmonth, for instance, a street vendor died during a crackdown in
\nJatinegara, East Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The incidents were criticized by many politicians and their
\nparties, including Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Jacob
\nNuwa Wea, who said the vendors have played important roles in
\nbuffeting the Indonesia's economy.<\/p>\n
Regrettably, the administration's efforts to \"combat\" the
\nvendors have, so far, proven useless. The vendors typically
\nreopen their tents or makeshift stalls later on, only to continue
\nselling soon after public order officers leave the sites, or as
\nsoon as they are freed from detention.<\/p>\n
The administration had, in the past, offered them alternative
\nplaces to conduct business, but the vendors rejected the offers,
\nprotesting that business at the new locations was too slow.<\/p>\n
This awkward situation has now spawned a vicious cycle between
\nauthorities and the street vendors: After being raided and
\ndetained, the vendors are freed -- only to begin trading again;
\nbut not long before being raided and arrested all over again.<\/p>\n
In November, Governor Sutiyoso unveiled his plan to legalize
\nstreet vendors around the city. The administration proposed to
\nregister the vendors by giving a kind of membership cards.<\/p>\n
However, many criticized the proposal, saying that it could
\nlead to corruption. The critics warned that unscrupulous
\nofficials would be able to arbitrarily sell the cards to vendors
\nor people, who do not deserve it, for their own profit.<\/p>\n
The public obviously has questioned the prolonged conflict
\nbetween the administration and the vendors.<\/p>\n
As from the beginning, the administration has yet to establish
\nan integrated policy to solve the problem. Rather, it gives
\nmerely inconsistent treatment to the vendors.<\/p>\n
Sometimes, for the sake of maintaining public order, the
\nadministration takes stern actions against the vendors. At other
\ntimes, it has never let the vendors run their business in the
\nname of humanity.<\/p>\n
City officials, however, seem content to raid the vendors.
\nThey have allocated Rp 12 billion this year for an operation
\nspecifically targeting public order offenders -- including street
\nvendors.<\/p>\n
Thus, it is no wonder many parties suspected the
\nadministration has never been too serious about resolving the
\nproblem -- because when the conflict is over corrupt officials,
\nfrom the top to the bottom, can no longer pilfer the money.<\/p>\n
The conflict reveals a failure by the administration to manage
\na basic task which reflects the administration officials' lack of
\ncompetence in managing other important city affairs.<\/p>\n
This incompetence, according to Tubagus Haryo Karbyanto from
\nthe Jakarta Legal Aid Institute, relates to the administration's
\ninability to solve the problem from its root.<\/p>\n
\"All this time, the city administration views the problem from
\nthe peak of Monas (National Monument),\" he asserted, referring to
\nthe authorities' habit of coping with the problems here.<\/p>\n
Clearing the roads of street, vendors will not solve the
\nproblem because it could only reach the surface of the dilemma,
\ninstead of the root cause.<\/p>\n
The administration, therefore, must change its perspective of
\nthe vendors, if it really wants to address the cause of the
\nproblem: poverty.<\/p>\n
Considering that the country has not yet succeeded in coping
\nwith its grinding poverty, Arief once said, the administration
\nhas no other choice but to make peace with it.<\/p>\n
\"The administration should consider the vendors as an integral
\npart of the city.\" said Azas Tigor Nainggolan, the leader of the
\nJakarta Residents Forum.<\/p>\n
He asked the administration to transfer the funds, previously
\nallocated for raids, to be used to instead manage the vendors.
\n\"Don't see them as enemy, regard them as partners, as they are
\nwilling to be organized if it managed to take them seriously.\"<\/p>\n
The administration could do better in providing space for the
\nvendors, said architect Marco Kusumawijaya; some vacant public
\nspace, he added, could be utilized for that purpose.<\/p>\n
Though the problem seems complex, it could still be resolved.<\/p>\n
A partnership between the administration and the vendors is
\ndefinitely a step in the right direction, since both parties must
\nreveal a sense of goodwill towards each other.<\/p>\n
Otherwise it will continue, unabated, in the future.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/street-vendors-vs-administration-partnership-is-crucial-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }