Traders question new Glodok bridge space<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Dozens of traders of the former Glodok
\npedestrian shopping bridge, whose stores were burned and looted
\nin the May 1998 riots, have questioned the help of the Jakarta
\nauthorities and central government in providing new retail space.<\/p>\n
According to coordinator of the traders Hendra, they had sent
\na letter to President Abdurrahman Wahid asking him to help settle
\nthe problems they faced in restoring their places of business.<\/p>\n
\"We lost our stores and money during the May (1998) riots and
\njust want to claim what is rightfully ours on the new bridge. But
\nit seems everybody is ignoring us,\" he told The Jakarta Post on
\nTuesday.<\/p>\n
Construction has just begun on the new bridge, at the same
\nlocation and twice the size of its predecessor.<\/p>\n
During the three days of riots that led to the resignation of
\nformer president Soeharto, the Glodok area of downtown Kota, home
\nto hundreds of shops selling electronic goods and Chinese-
\nIndonesian residences, was badly hit, burned and looted by mobs.<\/p>\n
Connecting the Harco-Glodok building to another, the Glodok
\npedestrian shopping bridge, at the time the site of approximately
\n100 stores mostly selling electronics, was destroyed.<\/p>\n
According to Hendra, the majority of traders had been renting
\nunder 20-year contracts and in business for two years before the
\ntumult.<\/p>\n
\"Soon after the unrest, city administration officials promised
\nto give priority to allotting space to us once the new bridge was
\nconstructed,\" Hendra said.<\/p>\n
But instead of completing the project, developer PT Bina Citra
\ncontinually asked for money from the former bridge traders, he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
\"Last year, PT Bina Citra asked each trader to pay Rp 40
\nmillion (US$4,705) to help fund the construction. Several months
\nlater, they asked for another Rp 75 million from each.<\/p>\n
Two weeks ago, they told us to pay another Rp 339 million to
\nget our stores back,\" Hendra explained.<\/p>\n
According to the contract, he said, the traders were allowed
\nto run their businesses on the new bridge without having to spend
\nany money since they had 18 more years to stay there.<\/p>\n
Hendra said the management had threatened to sell the spaces
\nto new tenants should the ex-traders at the bridge refuse to meet
\nthe requirement.<\/p>\n
\"We have all been asking about it; some of us even had to pay
\nthe Rp 40 million they (the developer) asked for last year.<\/p>\n
But paying Rp 339 million doesn't make sense at all, as the
\nprice is similar to new stores,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"We lost many things during the riots and the administration
\npromised to help us. We are not asking for the city to pay us
\nback but merely to give us our stores back,\" Hendra remarked.<\/p>\n
None of the developer's executives could be reached for
\ncomment.<\/p>\n
Insurance<\/p>\n
In the previous agreement with the same company, the traders
\npaid a Rp 150 million rental fee for an area measuring 20 square
\nmeters.<\/p>\n
In the deal, PT Bina Citra should have provided insurance for
\nthe stores, Hendra said.<\/p>\n
\"Sometimes we just want to give up and continue our business
\nin the current spot. But shall we give up while we have not
\nbroken the agreement?\" he added.<\/p>\n
Like Hendra, who sells keys at the Harco Glodok building
\nnearby, many of the ex-traders of the bridge also run their
\nbusiness in the same building, which offers rents at Rp 1.1
\nmillion per month for a space the same size.<\/p>\n
Another trader, Akai, who currently sells radio
\ntelecommunication units at Harco Glodok, said the traders had
\nalready hired a lawyer to settle the problems by asking PT Bina
\nCitra to lower the rental fee.<\/p>\n
\"We are willing to pay as much as Rp 75 million to help the
\nrenovations, only if we can have our stores back,\" Akai said.<\/p>\n
A councillor from Commission B on economic affairs, Dani
\nAnwar, said he would arrange a meeting at the city council with
\nthe disputed parties of the Glodok bridge.<\/p>\n
\"The traders deserves justice and the management cannot force
\nthem to pay that much,\" Dani said on Tuesday. (dja)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/traders-question-new-glodok-bridge-space-1447893297",
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