Tanah Abang clothing traders make windfall profits<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The election campaign is giving fabric traders
\nat the Tanah Abang wholesale market in Central Jakarta windfall
\nprofits from selling rally apparel and accessories.<\/p>\n
So overwhelmed are some traders that they claim they have had
\nto turn down large orders placed on short notice by Golkar, the
\ndominant political grouping.<\/p>\n
\"There are plenty of orders which we can't fulfill due to a
\nlack of stock,\" said Wir Artawijaya, who owns a shop on the
\nmarket's third floor, yesterday.<\/p>\n
Orders for campaign articles started to climb two weeks ago
\nalong with an average 30 percent increase in price, he said.<\/p>\n
T-shirts currently cost between Rp 2,100 (88 U.S. cents) and
\nRp 5,500 each, jackets Rp 12,500, caps Rp 1,500, berets Rp 2,500,
\nscarfs between Rp 3,000 and Rp 4,000, headbands Rp 1,000 and pins
\nRp 500.<\/p>\n
Wir said the sales of campaign paraphernalia this year would
\nprobably far exceed the sales of the last general election in
\n1992, thanks mostly to the increase in orders for Golkar's yellow
\napparel.<\/p>\n
He estimated that the orders for Golkar paraphernalia
\nincreased by 100 percent from the last general election, while
\norders for green articles of the United Development Party (PPP)
\nremained the same, and orders for the Indonesian Democratic
\nParty's red articles sharply decreased.<\/p>\n
\"Golkar paraphernalia is bought by government offices and
\nprivate companies,\" he said.<\/p>\n
About 200 wholesalers sell campaign articles in the country's
\nlargest textile wholesale market.<\/p>\n
Wir estimated that each wholesaler could earn hundreds of
\nmillions of rupiah in profit during the campaign and general
\nelection. Traders make a Rp 500 profit from the sale of one T-
\nshirt.<\/p>\n
\"You'd better leave journalism now and start selling campaign
\nparaphernalia,\" he told The Jakarta Post, smiling.<\/p>\n
Iman, who owns Famili jacket shop on the third floor, said he
\nmade a profit of between Rp 200 million and Rp 500 million from
\nthe sale of 500,000 Golkar jackets over the past two weeks.<\/p>\n
\"I almost got another Rp 71 million in net profit yesterday
\nfrom a person who wanted 20,000 dozen Golkar jackets,\" Iman said.<\/p>\n
\"Unfortunately, the transaction did not take place because he
\nwanted the order to be ready in one day, while I asked him to
\nwait four days.\"<\/p>\n
Aside from the Tanah Abang market, campaign articles are sold
\nin Cipulir, Senen and Manggadua markets.<\/p>\n
Wir said campaign T-shirts were produced by cottage industries
\nin Jembatan Besi, Jembatan Lima, Pluit, all in West Jakarta,
\nwhile the printing of party logos on the T-shirts was done by
\ncottage industries in Pademangan, North Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Jackets were mostly produced in Bandung and Tasikmalaya, West
\nJava, he said.<\/p>\n
Unlike Tanah Abang traders, traders at the Senen market feel
\nrather gloomy.<\/p>\n
Iwan, a shop owner at the Senen market, said he started
\nreceiving orders only a week before the campaign period this
\nyear, while in 1992 he had received orders a month earlier.<\/p>\n
Iwan said the Senen market had seen a rise in the prices of
\ncampaign articles over the past two weeks and the main orders
\nwere for Golkar articles.<\/p>\n
While wholesalers mostly capitalized on the sale of Golkar
\narticles, sidewalk retailers mostly sold PDI and PPP articles.<\/p>\n
A sidewalk trader on Jl. Kramat, Central Jakarta, Toyo, said
\nhis buyers were mostly PPP and PDI supporters. \"It's probably
\nbecause Golkar gives its paraphernalia to its supporters for
\nnothing,\" he added.<\/p>\n
Toyo also used to print logos on his merchandise. A police
\nofficer seized his printing equipment last week because he tried
\nto print a picture of ousted PDI leader Megawati on a T-shirt.<\/p>\n
\"The officer told me not to do that again. I just did it for a
\nliving. What's wrong with that?\" he asked. (jun\/jsk)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/tanah-abang-clothing-traders-make-windfall-profits-1447893297",
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