Vendors complain over hoodlums<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Dozens of street vendors complained on Monday
\nthat the city administration had hired hoodlums armed with
\nsickles to drive them away from an intersection in South Jakarta,
\nwhere they had been operating their businesses.<\/p>\n
Accompanied by advisers from the Jakarta Legal Aid Foundation
\n(LBH Jakarta), the vendors told the National Commission on Human
\nRights (Komnas HAM) that the hoodlums had threatened and
\nphysically abused them.<\/p>\n
The traders operate at the so-called CSW intersection on Jl.
\nSisingamangaraja where several offices, including the Jakarta
\nelectricity utility's offices, the Attorney General's Office, and
\nthe Secretariat of the Association of Southeast Asia Nations
\n(ASEAN), stand.<\/p>\n
A noodle vendor, Eme, said that he and his fellow vendors had
\nbeen forced by dozens of hoodlums, who claimed to be acting at
\nthe behest of the city administration, to leave the site prior to
\nthe beginning of the Muslim fasting month in December last year.<\/p>\n
"They held sickles to our necks. Even now, some of us still
\nhaven't the nerve to show up there again," he told reporters.<\/p>\n
His friend Yaya, who has been selling soft drinks in the area
\nfor the last 11 years, said that the hoodlums had also extorted
\nmoney from the vendors. He alleged that they were paid some Rp
\n500,000 (around US$53) every 10 "working" days by the city
\nadministration.<\/p>\n
The vendors, members of the Association of CSW Intersection
\nStreet Vendors (PPKL CSW), have received the support of their
\nfellow vendors on Jl. Sudirman-Thamrin, Central Jakarta and the
\nCawang bypass, East Jakarta. About 60 vendors from the three
\nlocations came to the Human Rights Commission on Monday.<\/p>\n
Rosidi, a member of the association, claimed that he had been
\nbeaten up by the hoodlums and, as a result, had to be treated at
\nhome for nine days.<\/p>\n
Tubagus Haryo Karbyanto, head of the city and urban dwellers
\ndivision of the LBH Jakarta, urged the commission to protect the
\nhuman rights of the vendors against the arbitrary policies of the
\ncity administration and to encourage the city police to eradicate
\nthe hoodlums instead of tolerating their existence.<\/p>\n
"We consider that the hoodlums' existence here has been
\naccepted by the city administration, and they are even being
\nemployed in city raids against street vendors," he told the
\ncommission, which was represented by B.N. Marbun and Soegiri.<\/p>\n
They asked the city to stop violating their human rights.<\/p>\n
"Instead of paying the hoodlums to beat us, it would be better
\nfor the city to give us the money. We want a dialogue with the
\nadministration to find the best solution, to find a place where
\nwe can do our business without being chased away," vendor Yaya
\nsaid.(bby)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/vendors-complain-over-hoodlums-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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