Vendors demand areas with good business potential<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): While citing readiness to accept public order
\nregulations, street vendors demanded on Wednesday that they be
\ngiven a location with good business potential in return for
\nvacating busy streets and sidewalks.<\/p>\n
They acknowledged they were disturbing passersby and motorists
\nas they frequently occupied sidewalks and even parts of city
\nstreets, but said in defense that they had no other choice but to
\ncontinue their business there.<\/p>\n
\"The city administration has repeatedly cracked down on
\nsidewalk vendors and promised new locations for us. But they
\nnever think of providing an area with good business potential.\"<\/p>\n
\"They offer space which is far from busy spots, like markets
\nor roadsides,\" said Kadmeri, a fruit vendor in front of the
\nUniversity of Indonesia building on Jl. Diponegoro in Central
\nJakarta.<\/p>\n
\"And I think, like everybody else, we'll look for ways to meet
\nour basic needs. Moreover, customers are also happy because they
\ncan easily get things they want from us,\" he added.<\/p>\n
Muchlis, a fellow trader selling head scarves, believed that
\nmost sidewalk vendors would not argue if they were relocated to
\n\"good\" places and obligated to pay some money as rent for the new
\nsite.<\/p>\n
\"We occupy this space illegally, but we are still obliged to
\npay a certain amount to city administration officers every day.<\/p>\n
\"And we do not get any compensation if we are forced to leave
\nthe area,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Both Kadmeri and Muchlis said they could understand the
\nincident on Tuesday at Senen market area in Central Jakarta, in
\nwhich 10 city officials were injured during the crackdown on
\nlocal street vendors.<\/p>\n
Similarly, Musardi, a beverage and cigarette vendor at a bus
\nshelter in Tanah Abang area, Central Jakarta, is also frustrated.<\/p>\n
\"We'll also fight the administration officials if they try to
\nclear us out,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Musardi said some vendors had occupied an area at Tanah Abang
\nfor 15 years, \"and we always give money (for the use of it) to
\ncertain city officials every day\".<\/p>\n
\"If we cannot do business here, why do they continuously
\ncollect money from us? They should have banned us from the
\nbeginning then,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Hanafi, who has sold food in front of the Jakarta Police
\nHeadquarters with his brother since 1990, said they regularly pay
\nfees to police personnel for security.<\/p>\n
\"But now, we have been ordered to leave the sidewalk as soon
\nas the beautification project of the headquarters' front garden
\narea, which is now occupied by some 40 vendors, is finished,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Second Lt. Edy Sutrisno of the city police internal affairs
\ndepartment said as many as 30 vendors who set up kiosks in front
\nof the garden had been told to relocate their business to the
\nrear part of the compound in order to facilitate work on the
\nproject.<\/p>\n
Another vendor, Yanto, who has sold clothes on the pedestrian
\noverpass near the police headquarters since 1996, insisted that
\nhe had not inconvenienced the public.<\/p>\n
\"Many people are interested at looking at and buying goods
\ndisplayed on the bridge. After all, I can easily pack up my
\nbelongings and leave if there is a crackdown by city personnel,\"
\nhe said, citing that no one needed to ask for permission or pay
\nany fees to run a business in the area.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Kartini, a food vendor on the city's main
\nthoroughfare of Jl. Sudirman in Central Jakarta, said relocating
\nthe vendors would only hurt their regular customers.<\/p>\n
\"Our trading sites are close to offices so employees can
\neasily reach us,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Residents<\/p>\n
Mixed reactions have been aired by city residents regarding
\nthe street vendors' activities.<\/p>\n
Mariana, who is in her 60s, said the vendors were helpful for
\nelderly citizens like her.<\/p>\n
\"I don't need to go far to get what I need,\" she said while
\nbuying oranges near the Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital in
\nCentral Jakarta for a relative being treated at the hospital.<\/p>\n
\"I think what the city administration has to do is organize
\nthe vendors and where they sell, so that they won't disturb
\npassersby,\" she added.<\/p>\n
Another resident, Wicaksono, however was against an
\narrangement for the vendors, saying they create traffic problems
\nin the city.<\/p>\n
\"You can see that many streets are congested because of them,\"
\nsaid the teacher at an elementary school in the Cikini area of
\nCentral Jakarta. (ind\/06\/imn)<\/p>",
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